An Odd Adventure
by negative nougat
Summary: I died. I came back in Remnant. But why did he come here too? And now he is creating a plan to change the entire plot? Well, I'm not complaining. Acting is pretty fun. (OC)
1. One - An Odd Beginning

**Ahh, my first fanfiction.**

 **Wonderful!**

 **I don't own RWBY**

* * *

Black.

That was all he could see. Well, it's not like there was anything to look at.

After all, his eyes were closed.

"Hey, wake up."

Mmmmph

Eh?

He tasted wood, laminated and washed wood. Cleaned with lemon soap, it tastes like.

He lifted his head up and tried to open his eyes. Once successful in that endeavor, he scanned his surroundings.

He seemed to be in a rectangular room, with a couple tables and chairs behind him and the counter of a bar in front of him. Various bottles of what could be assumed to be alcohol hung from the ceiling from small black strings, allowing the bottles to clink against each other if a gust blows through. On the immediate left side of the bar was a staircase, headed up to who knows where, and on the right, a closed door. Behind him, the entrance doorway was flanked with two vertical windows that were too bright to look out of. Anything that was made of wood – except for the counter – had curious symbols and pictures inscribed on it.

"A... bar?"

"Yes sir, in fact, it is my bar."

He looked over to where the male voice was coming from. A man was standing behind the bar, wiping down the counters with a blue rag.

The man had a rather average physique, from what he could tell. He wore an open pitch-black coat with two coattails split in the middle by what seems to be a cross, with a dark red shirt underneath. On the coat's sleeves were all sorts of crosses and other strange religious symbols, all lined up along the side, leading up to the collar. He wore black pants, with plenty of pockets to go around. The coat's two belts were hanging uselessly behind him, almost reaching the ground. If one looked closely at the gaps between his clothing, you would see bandages. Ah, he also wore black gloves with empty white circles on the back.

He was clean shaven, allowing him to see many faded scars along his jawbone, strangely stopping immediately at the end of the bone. Wild white hair was on his head, seemingly going past his shoulders. Maybe not.

But what was most odd were his eyes. Or rather, lack of them.

His long hair stopped just past the middle of his nose and covered nearly everything behind it. Behind the small holes in the curtain of hair was... well, nothing. It was if nothing existed beyond the bridge of his nose – except for his hair, of course. If you didn't look closely, you would think he was some sort of neo-emo.

Once he concluded his once-over, he asked the question he had on his mind the entire time.

"Where am I?"

The man seemed to be surprised at something, if the slight flinch of his hair was anything to go by.

"You don't remember anything?"

"No."

That was a lie, of course, he remembered everything. Life in the grey hell known as Earth. The lack of... anything, really, on it. He remembered the day when he discovered the truth, that real life really is boring as hell.

Not like it was any of this guy's business.

"Liar."

Damn.

...

An awkward silence followed. The man was probably waiting for him to ask another question. Unfortunately, he was the probably the last person you could expect to approach someone, much less ask questions.

He decided to make the smart choice, wait it out. Maybe this guy would drop some useful information if he started talking.

…

Any moment now.

…

…

...

"Want a beer?" The man offered.

There we go.

"I'm not paying."

"That's fine."

The man reached up and grabbed what seemed to be a random bottle of the ceiling and pulled it off, snapping the string holding it up, and brought it in front of him after removing the cap with a handy contraption somewhere under the counter.

Then, the man got right back to wiping the counter.

…

…

…

 _Snap_

His patience has finally run dry.

"Goddamn it! Are you going to say _something_ or are you gonna wipe forever, Mr. Clean?!"

The man looked up.

"Well, you never asked."

This must be some kind of hell.

...

After a quick breathing exercise, he was ready to talk again.

"Well, I'm asking now. Where am I?"

"In my bar."

Hold it in, hold it in.

"And where is that?"

"No clue."

He needed to grab something. Anything.

So, his hands were now firmly clamped onto the edge of the counter, and his knuckles were turning white from the sheer force that was now being passed onto the poor counter.

...

After furiously breathing for a minute or two, he was almost ready to get back on track.

"You really get angry easily." The man said, still wiping the infernal counter.

"I..." He was barely able to get out through gritted teeth before he was cut off.

"Well, since it seems you won't ask the obvious, allow me to introduce myself and my bar." The man continued.

"This is my bar, Skye, and I am its proprietor, Sykes." The man backed up so he could make a stage bow, flourishing a non-existent hat that would have been on his head. "But that is not what is important, what is important is that you are here."

Finally calmed down to an extent, he took a sip of the beer.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it means you are dead."

 _Hurk_

 _Cough, cough, cough_

The beer was now sprayed all over the counter.

The man did not seem to be impressed.

"Hey, man, I have to clean this now."

"Well... _cough_ I'm sure you were about to wipe it anyways."

The man shrugged and got right back to wiping.

"So, this is indeed hell?"

"No, this is Skye."

Oh god.

"And what is Skye?"

The man seemed to have been waiting for this question, as indicated by his excited hop.

"Well, Skye is an afterlife."

"'An' afterlife? There are more?"

"Well, yeah, there 9-layer Hell, normal Hell, Heaven, Limbo. Hell, even an abandoned house could be an afterlife. Skye is just one of infinite, though it is a bit special."

"And how is that?"

"Skye is meant for the rulebreakers of the worlds."

What?

I've never broken an (actual) rule since kindergarten!

"By that, I mean people who don't follow the flow of the world." The man stopped wiping and bent over to grab a thick book from under the counter. He came around the counter and sat down next to me. "For exampleeeeee..." He started running through the pages of the book before stopping at one with text in a language I don't recognize spanning the entire two pages.

"Ah, here you are. Markus Quinn, nickname Q. Age 20, born March 18, 1997"

How does he know that? Is it in that book? What is that book?

"This is the Book of Fate. Everything is in here. Literally."

He can't read minds, right?

"I can. The book can too."

Damn. Just what I needed.

The man started pointing at a line.

"Sooooo... You messed up about 5 years ago. You were... 15 years old. And you... saw something quite interesting, it seems. It seemed to have changed your entire mindset, and you just... gave up."

That's pretty accurate.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing really, but the book didn't expect that. You were supposed to have just kept walking, and still be that naïve little boy today. Also, you weren't supposed to die."

I didn't expect to die either.

"And what exactly is the problem with that?"

"Well, I really have no clue. I just do my job."

"And what is your job exactly?"

"Well, I round up people like you, and whoever people like you associate with, from wherever in the universe and bring them here to guarantee you don't mess up the timeline further. Of course, there really is no point from an objective point of view, after all, the world will keep running until its eventual demise and then reset, so there are infinite chances to do things right. It's more of a keeping the peace type job."

I am curious about one thing though.

"Do you have a boss?"

"No. It's just... a hobby."

 _Koff_

"A hobby!? Really? I didn't go to heaven cause of your hobby!?"

"You wouldn't have made it to heaven anyways." He had a point there.

...

"So... what now?"

"Well, I'm here to offer you a choice."

Couldn't you have mentioned that an hour ago?

"You never asked." Sharp as ever I see. "Now, you can choose one of three paths from this point on. First, you can walk outside and eat a flower from my garden. Second, you can go through that door," he gestured to the door behind the bar, "and get lost in my garden maze. Third, you can go upstairs and stare at the light in there until you go insane. Or, you can keep me company for all of eternity. Your choice. All of the choices will lead to your reincarnation. Except for the last one."

Reincarnation? That's pretty cool!

"You will lose your memories."

Damn.

"What are the differences? Why not just reincarnate me?"

"Well, the first one will just kill you here and now and bring you to some world randomly somewhere. The second choice will bring you to some world but not randomly, you decide where. Of course, this is just an illusion of choice, you still have no idea where you will end up. The third choice will give you the chance to be enlightened, and with that, the chance to be a god or some other higher being of some sort. The third choice also has the chance to completely obliterate your soul from all of existence. It's risky. As for why I'm not just reincarnating you, it's because then it would be no fun."

I can be a god?

"I can be a god?"

"Well, that's what I said. The light in there is the source of all intelligence in all of existence, and staring at it will give you, well, intelligence. A human like you could probably only manage staring at it for less than one billionth of a second before you go insane. But if you are lucky, you might absorb some information and divinity and be reborn with that as your own powers. Or you can be obliterated. Who knows?"

The man stood up. "Well, that's all I'm going to explain, because frankly, I don't care about you anymore. Oh yes, you are guaranteed to not be on Earth this time." He then patted me on the back before went back to the other side of the counter and began wiping again.

I think I know what I will do.

"Give me one more beer."

 _Clink_

… _..._

"That's your 89th beer."

"You can't get a hangover if you are dead! Hahaha!"

"Who told you that."

Crap.

I should go before then.

"Well then, I'm gonna go now."

The man looked up. "Have fun."

"I doubt I will."

"Me neither."

What a nice guy.

What was his name again?

"Sykes."

Ah, yeah.

"Well then, Sykes, bring me to the light."

The ma – Sykes seemed surprised by my choice. "Really? If you are obliterated there is no more anything, you know."

"I have nothing to lose, if I chose the other ones I have a 50/50 chance of going to a world less interesting than Earth, which I don't want, or I can be obliterated, which is preferable, if my past experience is anything to go on."

"Very angsty, I like it."

I get the feeling that was an insult.

"Well then, just head up those stairs." He pointed a beer at the staircase.

"You aren't going to come with me?"

Wait, of course not, why would he?

"Hell no, that place is scary."

What?

"What do you me-" I started before being cut off.

"Well, see ya." He somehow got behind me before I could notice, grabbed onto my collar and literally tossed me up the stairs before I could react.

"Aghh!" My face slammed into the floor at the top.

Before I got up, I noticed I felt a certain warmth on my skin. Then I turned around to look at it.

 _ **"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

And the world crumbled around me.

 **-Break-**

 _Clank clink clank_

The bottles are really shaking a lot this time.

...

The shaking finally stopped.

That boy was odd. I could tell. He talked, but he's incredibly different inside. Kind of like me. I wonder what really happened.

 _Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt._

Ah, the report is done. I wonder what it says.

…

What a lucky guy. He kept all his memories and gained some power.

Maybe I should send him something.

I wonder what power he got.

 _Host Ability found: Deity of Branded Merchandising_

 _Host Exception found: No divine power_

…What an odd power.

I wonder where he went.

 _Host World found: Remnant_

Ah, Remnant. I think I have a mission there.

 _Shuffle shuffle_

Ah, here it is.

…

Roman... Torchwick... huh?

 _Subject was successfully able to injure subject 2A [Rose, Ruby] during Dust robbery. Subject not meant to do such._

 _Verdict: Guilty_

 _Action recommended: Collection_

Well then, perhaps I will be accompanying you, Markus.

You really are an odd boy.

 **-Break-**

Voices.

Pain.

I remember it all.

Life. Death. I felt it all.

How many people died while I was looking? People born? I can't remember, around five thousand? No, way too little-

Huh?

Grass?

Birds?

Skye doesn't have birds or grass, right?

I sat up and opened my eyes.

Huh?

A letter with a wax seal that had an 'S' on in was taped onto my face. After removing it, I saw a bottle of whiskey along with a small metal device with a diamond centered on it leaning on a tree slightly farther away.

A tree?

I scanned around me.

A gasp escaped me.

It seems I've woken up in a very red forest. The grass was red. The leaves were red. It was beautiful.

Wait... I recognize this forest, right?

Well, whatever.

I tear open the letter, unfold it, and read what's written.

 _Hello Markus!_

 _It seems you are very lucky! You were able to gain an ability as well as keep your body and mind! Very lucky indeed._

 _Now, in case you do not immediately recognize where you are, you are on the world of Remnant! Sound familiar? Great!_

Holy shit. That's the RWBY world, right?

 _Yes, yes, it is_

… How'd you do that.

 _Irrelevant._

 _As_ _it happens, I have a mission here_ _. So_ _, I left you three gifts! First, a personal scroll with my number on it! Call me at_ _any_ _time except for when I won't answer! Second, it seems you enjoy your beverages from what I can gather, so I went ahead and gave you my special one of a kind 300 proof whiskey! I assure you it is very much real. Be careful though, it's very strong._

How is that even possible.

 _And finally, if you'd reach into your pocket please._

The letter stopped there.

Might as well. I reached inside my pocket and took out the object.

The object was a glass vial with a strange clear liquid inside it. But, before I could scrutinize it any further, the letter that was still in my hand vibrated.

 _Congratulations! You found the vial! Inside it is some liquified divinity. You gained divine abilities, however you did not gain any divine energy! Hahaha, what a failure!_

...Do you have some sort of bipolar disorder...?

 _I assure you I am perfectly healthy._

 _Anyways, drink that and you should have enough power to use a simple spell of some sort! Ah, of course, as long as you have some amount in your body, no matter how small, you will be unable to die! Injuries will deplete the divinity though. Of course, with this amount, tripping over a root and hitting your head lightly on a tree trunk would be enough to completely deplete it!_

What the hell! It's completely useless then!

 _Ah ah ah! Remember, I only sent this to you for a simple spell, not immortality._

 _Ah, before I conclude, you should know that you are currently in a forest known as 'Forever Fall'! It's completely infested with those soulless beings! Grimm, I believe they are called! If I were you, I would use the juice to summon some sort of weapon that has to do with your ability. No worries if you do not know your ability, it'll come naturally!_

 _Farewell,_

 _Your good friend, Sykes._

 _P.S. This letter will combust immediately! Let go!_

And that it did.

Huh, this could be good.

After drinking the divinity, (which tasted like water) I strode over to the tree with the gifts. Putting the impossible whiskey somewhere in my pants, I opened the scroll to see a list of contacts, of which I had one (guess who!). I fiddled with the object as I tried to find some way to open a map of some sort.

Finally getting the damned thing working, I plotted a course straight to the city of Vale, because that's where the world ticks.

And I, armed only with a bottle of probably deadly whiskey, an incredibly user-unfriendly device, not enough divinity, and the clothes on my back, began my trek.

* * *

 **You know, maybe I should actually watch RWBY.**


	2. Two - An Odd First Day

**This chapter was fun to write.**

 **I don't own RWBY**

* * *

 _Skye_

The sky was black and starry.

 _Tak tak_

It was time to water the flowers. Sykes left the bar through the front entrance with a watering can in his hand.

In front of the bar was a street with only one streetlight. Strangely, the street only extended until the end of the bar building, stopping there to drop into an infinite abyss.

This didn't elicit any response from Sykes, after all, he lives here.

On the other side of the street was a 8-foot tall hedge with five-pointed flowers of all colors peppered on it. In the middle of the hedge was an opening, rounded at the top.

Sykes went through.

Four rectangular plots, placed in the 4 corners of the square space surrounded by hedges, were all growing the same flowers as on the hedges. The flowers bordering the edge near the hedges seemed to connect to the hedges with vines. Perhaps all the flowers are part of one single organism. Who knows.

...

After carefully watering all the flowers, Sykes went back across the street, but did not enter the bar. Instead, he stayed on the roofed porch with two outdoor tables that was immediately outside the entrance.

He put down the watering can on one of the tables, then picked up a strange metallic badge that was laying on the table beforehand. It was in the shape of a pentagonal shield, with a _very_ apparent 'S' emblazoned on the front that was so large the tips came off the badge a little. Other than that, it had many, many strange scripts written all over it, including the back.

Sykes stared at it for a minute before clipping it onto his coat, easily seen to the world.

"It's time to go, I guess." He said aloud to no one in particular.

Sykes let out a long sigh, before running his fingers through his hair.

He then simply popped out of existence.

...

The only streetlamp turned off.

 **-Break-**

 _An undisclosed location, somewhere in the city of Vale_

The boss is pissed. Like _really_ pissed.

Apparently the girl he was with betrayed him on a Dust raid.

Now I have to deal with the consequences. Guard duty, now that we are down a couple men thanks to his rage.

Bitch.

...

 _Crash!_

Ah, another one down-

Huh?

A human?

Where in the blazes did he come from?

As if he heard my thoughts, he turned to look at me.

And just stared.

Wait a minute… white hair? That badge, it has an 'S' on it as well.

A Schnee?

What a lucky day!

"Hey boys! Looks like we got a Schnee wandering around at this hour! Lets offer him to the boss!"

Five other guys seemed to have agreed and grouped up with me.

We walked over the the Schnee.

 **-Shift-**

Sykes was confused.

He wanted to teleport to where Markus was.

 _Well, I guess he will have to make do with the letter. He'll probably text me asking for help soon anyways._

Sykes was going to see where he could find this Roman. He was about to step forward, but he felt someone's presence. From what he could tell, the man had some strange mask on.

 _ **Where in the blazes did he come from?**_

 _Huh, the man with the strange mask is thinking about me. I wonder what he wants._

"Hey boys! Looks like we got a Schnee wandering around at this hour! Lets offer him to the boss!"

Sykes crossed his arms and tilted his head to the left.

 _What is a Schnee? Do they mean Skye?_

The man started approaching Sykes, with five other people around him. Now that Sykes could get a better look at them, he noticed that they all were armed with either rifles or swords.

Strangely, some had tails from various animals.

 _How odd._

The group surrounded him easily, as Sykes was too busy scrutinizing them to care about moving.

The people aimed whatever weapon they had at him. "Human, if you want to even think about living for another minute, you will come with us." The first man said.

Sykes pondered on what to do.

He made a decision

"No."

Then he lifted up his leg and stomped on the ground. At the exact same time his foot hit the ground, he disappeared, kicking up a couple small clouds of dust where he once was.

The grunts were stumped.

 _I'm not paid enough for this shit._

 **-Break-**

 _I've been walking for 5 hours now and I'm still in this damn forest._

 _It's like 8 pm._

 _Will I trapped here forever?_

 _Is this the real hell?_

 _Sykes hasn't responded to my cries for help._

 _Has he abandoned me?_

Vrrrr

 _My scroll?_

Click

 _A text!_

 _Will Sykes use his bullshittery to get me out of here?_

 _Only if you help me with my mission._

 _Well, it's not like I was planning to do anything else._

I texted back.

 _Fine._

Immediately after I sent the text, he texted back.

 _Good. We are looking for a Roman Torchwick._

 _Roman..? What does he need that guy for?_

 _To send him to Skye. Now close your eyes._

 _I forgot he could read minds._

 _I should ask about Roman when I meet him._

I closed my eyes.

…

…

…

…

 _Is something going to happen or- WOAH!_

When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted with the mug of Sykes and we were somewhere in the city. He had his head tilted for some reason, as if he was pondering his existence.

"What were you closing your eyes for?" He spoke up. "You look stupid."

"Y-you told me to!"

"I did not." This bastard.

I took out my scroll to smash him with hard facts via the text app.

"See! Right here…"

 _To send him to Skye. Now blink._

…

"Sykes, you are a real bastard."

For the first time since I saw him, he cracked a smile.

"Anyways-" He was unable to finish that thought.

 _CRAK!_

Sykes looked down. He saw a leg stemming from myself finding a nice home for itself in between his legs.

Sykes didn't react.

"OWWWWWWW! WHAT THE HELL!" Pain lanced all throughout my body. You'd think it would be kept local to my shin, but no, everything hurt.

Is this divine retribution?

"Your divinity was just depleted and I think you broke your shin." Gee, thanks.

"Do you, _hisss,_ wear some sort of, _hisss,_ steel cup!?" My shin was turning blue. Tears were coming out of my eyes. That probably isn't good.

"Uhh, no? You're just weak as shit. Drink more milk." The honesty hurt even more than the pain did. "Here, quit your whining." Sykes snapped his fingers. Suddenly, everything was okay again. It was as if I went back in time by a minute. Previously, I was hopping on one leg and holding onto my other, but now I was just standing straight.

Ah, the bullshit aside, that reminds me.

"Oh, yeah, what exactly _are_ you?" No normal person could run an afterlife bar and seemingly bend time and space, right? "What exactly can you do?" Is he some sort of god?

"That is a secret." Why though? "Because I don't feel like telling you."

Great.

"As for what I can do, it'll do you well to assume in most situations: Yes, I can do it."

Are you saying you can do anything?

"Something like that, yeah."

Do you think you could, wel-

"Anyways, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted," He cut off my thought. I didn't even know you coul- "We are looking for Roman Torchwick because, he, like you, is a Fatebreaker."

Fatebreaker?

"Those rulebreakers I told you about in the bar."

That is a way cooler name than just rulebreakers.

"It is." Sykes stopped talking and looked around. "We need to go. People are looking at you strangely for staring at a guy who is talking to himself from two feet away."

Oh, that's right, this is a public place.

Sykes turned around and started walking, probably assuming I would follow. Unfortunately, I caught on to his intentions a bit too late.

"Hey, wait up!"

 **-Break-**

 _Some cafe, somewhere. 9 pm._

Sykes and I was sitting at an outdoor table.

I ordered a coffee. Sykes pulled out a thermos from his coat and poured it into a fancy cup and saucer that also happened to be in his coat.

He opened his mouth to speak.

"So, did you summon a weapon in the forest?"

"No." But you probably already knew that, didn't you.

"I did, but I'm trying to work on my human interaction skills." He seemed to remember something. "Do you even have money to pay for that coffee?"

Oh. I knew I was forgetting something.

Well, whatever.

"Now I get the feeling that you are going to give me the rundown on what you expect me to do to help you, right?"

Sykes raised an eyebrow. Although, he doesn't have any.

"Well, yes."

"Before that, enlighten me." This was on my mind for a while. "Why do you even bother with rounding up people like me? If what you said in the bar is accurate, then why do anything at all? I'm sure an absolute cheat like you can find other things to do, right?"

He seemed to think on whether to answer or not for a moment before answering.

"Well, when you live as long as I have, you really run out of things to do that are even slightly interesting. But there is a reason other than that." He took in a breath (He needs to breathe?). "You see, being a Fatebreaker means that what the Book of Fate says you will do is no longer accurate. Gods, being the way they are, don't like that."

"Why not?"

"Well, you see, all gods are entitled to the pages of the Book of Fate that has to do with whoever and whatever they have authority over. When that is inaccurate, they can't predict you anymore. What you saw in the bar was the entire book. Not many beings get to see that, you are very lucky."

He continued after sipping whatever was in his thermos. "Not even I can predict what a Fatebreaker will do in the future perfectly. And that is interesting, to me at least. But not to them. So they complain to their superiors, the superiors complain to their superiors, and so on and so forth until it reaches me. Then I get annoyed."

"There's a god hierarchy? And you are pretty high on that hierarchy?"

"Well, there aren't very many beings that has the authority to scour all of existence, past, present and future, to hunt down these Fatebreakers." He took in another breath (I am doubting that he needs to breathe more and more). "As for a hierarchy, yeah, there sure is. There's world gods, system gods, minor cluster gods, galaxy gods, major cluster gods, and then universal authorities and finally, dimensional sovereigns. And then there's me." He sipped whatever was in his thermos again. "There probably is more divisions, but those are the main ones. What makes them special is that when comparing the strength of a god of one level to one of the next higher is like comparing a human and a world god. Which are usually the gods you would think of when you say god."

That's a lot. I leaned back in my chair.

"...It really is a big world. Or, universe. Really makes you seem small and insignificant."

Sykes chuckled. "Well, I can't say I empathize." I guess you couldn't.

Sykes finished his liquid and stopped smiling. "Well, what do you know about Torchwick?"

"Can't a cheat like you find out where he is easily?"

"Well, yeah, I could. But that would be no fun." He pulled out a weird looking credit card from his coat and placed it next to my coffee. "If I really wanted to solve everything, I could set up a system which would immediately obliterate Fatebreakers the moment they break fate. But I'm not so cruel. And I would still be bored as hell."

He continued, "Anyways, you are the one who watched RWBY, I didn't ask for your help so I could do everything."

"When did you ask? That was more like blackmail." It was true.

Speaking of blackmail, "Oh yeah, if you want me to help you, enroll me there." I pointed to a monstrous castle that could be seen above the buildings.

"And what is that?"

"Beacon Academy, they train huntsmen there."

Sykes looked at me quizzically. "And why would I want that? You'd be holed up somewhere where you can't help me."

"Well, you see, huntsmen need to keep the peace and take care of criminals, as well as hunt Grimm, so if anyone would have information on Torchwick, they would be in there." It took me a while to think of this one.

Sykes stared at me.

"That's bullshit and you know it. You just want to see the main cast."

I sipped my coffee and shrugged.

"Take it or leave it."

Sykes paused for a moment. "Fine. I'll get you in."

...

He stretched his arms above his head. "So, how much do you know about the future events here?"

"Honestly, not very much. I only saw the first volume before I died." It was true. My sister recommend it to me once a friend showed it to her on her birthday. I got hooked. Then I died.

Sykes cracked a smile. "Really, only one season? You really do fail at everything you do."

"Shut up"

"Well, no worries." He reached into his coat and took out five DVD cases.

Is… is that what I think it is?!

"Yes, RWBY volumes 1-5."

On DVD?!

"Blu-ray." He clarified.

He then reached into his coat again and took out a huge black Blu-ray player.

I felt like my eyes widened to dinner plates.

Now, I could accept the DVDs and whatever before being in his coat, but this massive machine?

He has to obey the laws of physics, right?

"The laws of physics are the responsibility of universal authorities. They are under me." He placed everything back in his coat. "So, no."

He really can do anything. And how did no one notice?!

Sykes stood up, reached over and drank the rest of my coffee. "It's getting late. Let's go and find somewhere to binge RWBY at."

I paid the waitress, and we were on our way.

...

…

…

A little later, Sykes turned around and looked at me.

"You… didn't give her _all_ the money, right?"

I feel like I sweat a little bit.

"U-uh, didn't you give me exact change?"

Sykes ran his fingers through his hair before turning around and continuing walking.

"Well, someone just became a millionaire."

 **-Break-**

Eventually, we found a cheap motel to crash at.

In the morning, I realized that I haven't eaten anything for nearly 16 hours and that I was starving.

Luckily, Sykes pulled out a large steaming pizza from inside his coat before I could die again. I stopped caring about the intricacies of his coat after that.

While I was eating, he told me what he did during the night, while sitting on the bed.

"While you were sleeping, I did some legal work. You and I are now officially citizens of Vale." I took a sip from a soda that also came from his mystical coat. He continued.

"Also, since you are too old to enroll in Beacon, I went ahead and made you 17 again."

 _Hurk_

 _Cough cough cough_

So that's why I felt strange waking up.

I wiped my mouth with my sleeve, the recently evacuated liquids now on Sykes' body.

"Would you quit dropping bombs on me while I'm drinking?!"

Sykes was not impressed.

He started wiping himself off with a handkerchief that came from… not inside his coat. It was in a front pocket. I would be lying if I said I was not surprised.

"...Well, the real surprise was that through your body's transfer of 3 years, you actually gained muscle mass. I thought you would have at least grown a little after 17, but I guess not. That's also why you are so hungry, you managed to eat three entire large pizzas so far." He pointed behind me.

Really? I don't remember that. I turned my head and looked at the corner of the room, where the pizza boxes were.

Holy shit, he was right.

"I'm always right."

Bastard.

He stood up before continuing. "Also, creating citizenship records for someone under 18 is pretty tough without a family of some sort to fill the holes."

He smirked.

I don't like that look.

"...Son."

I stopped thinking then and there.

"So get that through your head. You can call me either father or papa. Remember that, or I will make you. And it will be painful."

I wasn't listening.

Way back when, I never had a father. He died when I was three and my sister was still a baby. Mom never kept pictures, and I don't remember him at all.

But that was then.

There is no reason to think of it now.

When I blinked back to the real world, I saw Sykes hooking up both a massive 60' tv and the Blu-ray player from earlier. I assume the tv just slipped out of his coat. He looked over.

"Are you back?"

When I nodded, he did as well.

"Come, help your father."

I smiled.

…

I didn't help him.

Is he trying to make fun of me?

...

Sykes finished up while I sat in front of the tv.

"Are you sure that watching this in this world will not cause a massive singularity or something?"

Sykes took out four bean bags, one of each color apparent in RWBY, and laid them out side by side. "It shouldn't." He shrugged. "But I would prevent any if the main cast from watching. Wouldn't want any existential crises."

Is crises the plural of crisis? "I think so."

What're the two extra bean bags for?

"We obviously need all the colors if we even want to think about watching RWBY." He collapsed onto the 'Black' bean bag, effectively making himself invisible except for his head and shirt. "The other ones are for the beverages and food. This is gonna take like 22 hours you know."

He took out many large chip bags and threw then on the 'White' bean bag, which was on the opposite side of the row of beanbags. He then took out a two-liter of nondescript soda and laid it beside him, on the 'Yellow' bean bag.

The 'Red' one was left for me.

...What could this mean?

"If you romance one of the main four, problems will arise." He looked over and said. "As your father, I will not allow it. Especially the child."

You can't tell me what to do, old man!

"I can _make_ you." He placed volume 2 into the player. "And it will be painful."

When I'd realized that I'd moved I already was sitting on the beanbag. And I was also given a killer headache.

"See, painful." He didn't seem sorry. "I'm not."

This is domestic abuse.

"Prove it."

...Damn.

He smirked and leaned back.

"Now, let's begin."

 _Click_

 **-Break-**

Blake was tired.

Even after a long night's sleep, she was tired. She always slept more than normal people. Maybe it's the cat genes.

It's been a little more than a full 24 hours since she left.

She did nothing but run and hide since then, at least until she found this motel.

The motel was a perfect place for hiding, as it was far away from any White Fang bases.

The owners of this motel didn't seem to be suspicious of anything and the transaction went smoothly.

She was stretching in her bed while looking at the digital clock.

 _2:00 PM_

She needed to get her Beacon Academy transfer papers from that man.

She stood up, and-

 _CRASH!_

From a neighboring room.

Humans wouldn't be able to hear the sound as it was muffled well by the curiously soundproof walls.

Blake's heart jumped and her hair stood on end.

 _The White Fang?! I thought I checked for trackers before-_

 _ **SHE DIED! THE BITCH KILLED HER!**_

An incredibly loud voice boomed out. Even a human could hear it through the walls.

Then, a quieter and calmer voice came, seemingly replying to the first voice.

 _No, she didn't kill her on purpose, it was an illusion._

 _ **I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT HER!**_

 _ **AAAARRRRRGHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL!**_

 _ **SYKES! I KNOW! GO AND KILL THE FIRE BITCH AND HER SLAVES! AVENGE HER! NOW!**_

The second man's name seemed to be Sykes.

 _Calm down. It's just a show._

 _ **A SHOW?! YOU THINK THIS IS JUST A SHOW?!**_

 _It is._

 _ **YOU BASTARRRR-**_

The voice was cut off.

...

 _ **Do you think you could have stopped me without a headache involved?**_

 _Do I think? Yes. Will I? No._

 _ **Bastard.**_

 _You broke my plate._

 _ **I'm sure you have more.**_

 _That one was my favorite._

 _ **Bullshit.**_

 _Fine. Continuing._

 _..._

Blake calmed down by this point and was only listening due to curiosity.

Once the conversation was replaced with what seemed to be music from a main menu, she decided to leave.

She closed the door and leapt off the balcony that is common in cheaper hotels and motels to check out.

…

While running towards the city, a thought came to her.

 _Wait, was there a TV in my room?_

 **-Break-**

"Someone was listening in to your little temper tantrum earlier, you know." Sykes spoke up halfway through the episode.

"Really?" I would've heard them at least, right?

"These walls are incredibly sound-absorbent." He looked at the wall leading to a neighboring room. "I'm sure you can guess why."

Ah. I see.

"Who was it?"

"It was Blake."

 _Hurk_

 _Cough cough cough_

I managed to choke on my own spit.

"Really? _Cough_. Blake? And you felt the need to tell me _now_?" I turned to him.

"I didn't feel the need to tell you at all." He said, still focusing on the TV before changing the subject.

"I was thinking about what order the trailers occurred in in this world."

And how does this help us?

"And what did you figure out?" I didn't say what was on my mind.

Sykes turned to look at me strangely before focusing back on the show. "All I got is that 'Black' has already occurred, and 'Yellow' has not happened yet. 'White' is irrelevant, and I'm not sure what to make of 'Red'."

He continued. "This helps us because it gives up the chance to enter the plot in a healthy manner."

When did you see the trailers?

"I took a peek in your memories."

Should've guessed.

"Wait, why do _you_ want to enter the plot?"

He threw on a goofy smile and seemed to get excited. So much, in fact, I could feel the energy from here.

" _Because it'll be so much fun!"_

 _..._

...

I blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice (Is that a word?).

...Did those words actually come out of _Sykes'_ mouth?

"Are you… okay?"

The smile froze right on his face.

He looked at me for a moment before turning away and clearing his throat.

"...Your father says to stop staring and watch the damn TV." He pulled his knees to his face, wrapped his arms around his legs and began brooding.

When I caught myself looking away I was already staring at the tail end of a certain character's death on screen.

An indescribable rage bubbled in me; it was composed half of the fact that the bitch killed another one, and half due to the fact I missed most of the episode thanks to a certain someone's bipolarity.

"...I'm not bipolar."

…

 **ARRRRRRGHHHHH! THE BITCH KILLED ANOTHER ONE! AND I MISSED THE GOOD PART THANKS TO YOU!**

I picked up his plate.

Then I clocked him right upside the head with it.

 _CRASH!_

…

He didn't react.

…

For the next 5 minutes I raged around the room like some kind of goddamn gorilla and Sykes never moved an inch the entire time.

…

Finally, I calmed down and Sykes seemed to have finished brooding.

He spoke up first.

"You saw nothing, Tarzan." He said in a voice demanding respect, "You will forget or I will make you. And it will be painful." An indescribable pressure built up from somewhere, pushing on me from all directions.

I was successfully spooked.

"Y-yes, of c-course."

The pressure disappeared.

"Good. Now let's rewatch the episode." He sat back down and waited for me to do so as well.

I did so, and all was well once again.

…

…

...

...

"...Yes, thrice is a word."

Ah, thanks.

* * *

 **You know, I never described Markus's appearance.**

 **Ooh, I can do something with this.**


	3. Three - An Odd Interference

**Whenever I make a mistake or some sort of discrepancy in the story, I'm like: 'Hey, this could be a really good plot point.' And it all works out.**

 **I went ahead and made 1 lien = 1 USD cause then its ez pz.**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Black.

No… I don't want to wake up…

Too... tired…

"Hey, wake up."

I don't want to.

…

Eventually, I was able to scrape together the will to lift my head and open my eyes.

I was… in the bar?

Why am I here?

Sykes was wiping. He looked up, "Finally awake?" When I nodded, he continued.

"Well, I really can't predict you. You managed to fry your eyes out by watching too much TV. You died."

 _HACK_

 _COUGH COUGH_

"H-how is that possible?"

"No clue. Maybe next time you should try blinking." He continued.

"You used up your second chance. Now you have to stay with me…"

"Forever."

Forever.

 _Forever._

 _ **Forever.**_

…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

 **-Break-**

I shot up from my lying position.

"-OOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo… huh?"

Aghh. My eyes sting like hell.

This... doesn't smell like the bar… _WOAHHLEE SHIT_

Sykes was up close and personal, staring into my soul. Out noses were less than two inches apart.

"Dreaming of me?"

After breathing to un-fluster myself, I said the first thing that came to mind in this situation.

"Yes. It was a nightmare."

Sykes frowned, but seemed satisfied and backed up.

Now that his face was no longer blocking my vision, I saw that we were in fact still in the motel room.

Something was missing however, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was.

Sykes seemed to catch on and answered. "I packed up the TV and everything else. We finished watching, then you got knocked out because you couldn't handle the smell."

The smell?

Ohhhh, I remember.

 _6 Hours Earlier_

" _Owwww… my eyes..."_

" _Good job, you survived. I overestimated the length, it was only 18 hours in total."_

 _I'm too tired to speak or care anymore._

" _By the way, do you still have the whiskey I gave you earlier?"_

 _Yeah. I think I still got it._

" _Good. Hand it to me."_

 _Yawn… mmkay._

 _I reached into my pants and pulled out the bottle. I held it out to offer it to him._

 _He took it and popped the cap off._

 _Sniff_

 _Ohhhhhh…_

 _That's pretty strong._

…

 _Thud_

…

 _Sykes paused from drinking straight from the bottle to look down at my half unconscious body._

" _Weakling."_

 _Bas… tard…_

 _I was taken by darkness._

 _Present_

Bastard.

I thought that was supposed to be a gift.

"You're the one who gave it to me. Also, I am your father. I can take back anything I do or say"

That's a stupid rule.

"By the way, I did some work during the night again." He raised a finger into the air. "I created a backstory for both of us on this world." He put his other finger in the air as well. "I took a bit of… artistic liberty when I wrote it. All you need to know is that if someone ever tries to dig into our backgrounds, they will be in for quite the story."

Humm…

"Does that mean you took a last name? What even is your last name?"

"I… don't have a last name." Maybe it was just me, but I feel like I heard a tinge of sadness in those words. "But on this world, I did some research on a last name that someone mistook me for, and took that. I also incorporated it into my backstory."

"What is it?"

"I'm not telling."

"Bastard." Sykes might of flinched at the mention of that word. Maybe it was my imagination.

"Oh yes, I forget to mention this." He aimed a finger at me. "You took your mother's last name, Quinn. In case someone asks."

"...Why did you create backstories for us, exactly?"

"Well, I get bored when my dear son is-"

I cut him off. "Okay, okay, I get it."

"Well then, let's go." He held his arms out, "There's no reason to stay in this dump anymore. The plot is beginning soon." He held his fist in front of him and clenched it. "The plot will not wait for us to interfere, we must do it now! Ah, I also need to get information on Roman before he dies. I wasn't expecting him to die."

"I think your priorities are twisted. Messing with the plot is supposed to be the reincarnated's job." I pointed my thumb at myself. "And that's me."

I think Sykes just cursed under his breath. "...Be that as it may, you are weak as shit. You could not affect the plot in any way even if you tried."

Damn. He's got a point.

"Therefore, I must be a superstar father and watch you 24/7, to protect and defend, at all times." He seemed to take great pride in this.

"That's called a helicopter dad."

"Very well, I shall be a helicopter father, for your protection of course. After all, you will be associating yourself with superpowered teenagers - the majority of which are girls - so, who knows what could happen." He crossed his arms and pointed his chin up. "I don't expect too much from you in that department, though. Neither will I allow it."

I think that was an insult.

"Come on, my dear son, the world awaits." He held an arm in my direction.

I really hate his bipolarity. Can't he just be a normal god?

"I'm not bipolar. Nor a god."

I took the hand anyway. He lifted me off the bed (Which I was still lying in), and we exited the room.

The sun was just barely above the horizon, letting us know it was a new day.

We started for the stairs.

 **-Break-**

The previous information was inaccurate. It was dusk, not dawn. That shouldn't even be possible, if you do the math.

I blame Sykes.

The street we were walking on was quickly bathed by darkness less than fifteen minutes after we left.

I had no clue where we were going.

"We are going to Junior's Club." Sykes picked up on my thoughts, no big surprise. "Tonight is the night of 'Yellow'. I need to get a job there as bartender - which I should be able to get with no trouble - and I plan on introducing you to the girl, after she busts the joint. That, or we can go with plan B, if I choose to do so. Until then, you can clean a glass and watch, or something." Sykes smiled.

"Reign in those hormones, son, today's the big day."

Bastard.

...

"Ah, here we are."

We walked up to a corner property that had strobe lights barely peeking out through the windows. If you did not know for sure that this was the club, you would have skipped right over it. Probably a conscious choice. From outside, it looked like any old downtown property, with many windows above the first floor, and many floors. From where I was standing, I could barely hear music that is easy to dance to coming from inside.

We approached the entrance.

"Ah, automatic doors, how fancy." The doors really didn't fit in with the outside aesthetic, but that changes once you take a look inside.

Inside was a huge room with an angular style that was mostly made of what seemed to be some sort of smooth black material, with white lights along all the edges and rails. The night was still very young, so there was no people here for entertainment.

Immediately once you enter, you would be greeted with a staircase headed down to the level where everything was. One level lower, and you would reach the dance floor. On the middle level, there was a bar on the left. Peppered throughout the room were men with black suits with red ties, matching black hats and red aviators, all armed with either a sword, a fire ax, or a firearm.

"I believe they are called henchmen." Sykes said once we reached the bar. Then he straightened his coat and checked his smile with a mirror he pulled out of his coat. I'm not sure why though, I've never seen him eat anything.

Once he put the mirror away, he turned to me. "Now, my dear son, just stay quiet and watch your father show you how to talk with people such as these."

The white lights in the room turned red.

He grabbed a henchman that happened to be near him at the time and turned him around so that he faced him.

"Tell your boss that I wish to meet with him."

The henchman looked up and down Sykes's body.

"And who the hell do you thi-" The man was cut off.

Suddenly, my heart skipped a beat and I almost stumbled while standing still. All the hairs on my body stood straight up. One thought kept getting brought to the forefront of my mind.

 _RUN._

 _RUN AWAY AS FAR AS YOU CAN._

Adrenaline rushed all throughout my body, my heart beat faster than it probably ever did in my two lives. My eyes dilated, and unconsciously darted around looking for some way, _any way,_ to escape the demon in front of me.

Then, as soon as it came, the feeling left me.

My palms bled a little from clenching my fists too hard; and I was still trembling. I looked up at Sykes, who hasn't moved at all, and the unfortunate soul he grabbed, who slumped forward slightly in his grip. When did he start smiling like that? Just looking at the smile was unnerving.

Sykes opened his mouth.

" _ **Please."**_

There was something off about his voice, but thinking about it brought that feeling back.

He let go of the man.

The lights turned back to white.

The man probably wanted to scream, but he was too afraid to make any noise; so instead, he furiously nodded and ran to a room somewhere on the side all while stumbling a few times.

Nobody else seemed to have noticed anything off.

I was going to ask, but Sykes beat me to it.

"That, my son, was the legendary killing intent; I'm sure the concept is nothing new to you. And if you are curious, the amount I sent to you was accidental; it was nothing compared to what the henchman felt." Poor guy.

He moved to take a seat at the bar. He patted the seat beside his. "Sit here, son."

I did. "You scared the hell out of me, you know? And stop calling me son. It sounds weird and unnatural."

I'm still sweating.

He chuckled. "Well, that's the point. And no. I will call you whatever I want."

He pulled out a bottle and two glasses, placed them on the counter, and poured some for both of us.

Serving yourself kinda defeats the point of going to a bar, but whatever.

Alcohol?

"It's not alcoholic. It's only root beer."

I drank some.

It wasn't bad.

…

After I finished a glass, I spotted a very tall man wearing a dress shirt and vest moving towards us.

Sykes turned around in his seat to lean back on the counter, resting his elbows on it.

Now that the man was closer I noticed that he was flanked on both sides by two teenage girls, one wearing a red dress, and the other wearing a white one.

The Malachite twins.

They are actually pretty cute.

Sykes looked at me strangely.

"No romance. It will ruin the plot."

That's cruel.

"I will be crueler."

Damn.

…

Finally, the man came close enough to begin talking.

"One of my boys said you _asked_ for me?"

Sykes looked up at him.

"You are Junior?"

"Yeah." The man narrowed his eyes. "And how can I help you?" He was clearly suspicious. Maybe the henchman told him what happened.

"I want to tend your bar." Sykes jabbed a thumb behind him. "For the night."

Junior widened his eyes and seemed surprised by the request, but he narrowed then in suspicion a moment later. He opened his mouth to talk, but Sykes beat him to it.

"Of course, I will be paying." He pulled out and held a card between his index and middle fingers. "Five thousand lien. You'll need it."

This only seemed to make Junior all the more suspicious. "And what exactly are you plann-" Sykes cut him off.

"My dear son," he directed at me, "look away, would you?"

Immediately after he said that, a thought was forced into my head.

 _Act like you are used to it._

He can use telepathy?!

 _Yes. Now do it._

The girls were looking at me curiously, while I could see Junior taking glances at me from the corner of his eye.

This could be fun.

I smiled.

"Oh dear." I focused back into the counter and poured myself more root beer.

Then, I could feel some sort of heat run across my back.

" _ **Please."**_

 _Thud_

I think I heard knees hitting the ground.

The heat disappeared. I turned back around, my smile still on.

Junior was kneeling in front of him, with a very pale face and clenched fists. The twins seemed better off, but they were pale as well.

Sykes hopped of his seat and placed his hand on Junior's shoulder. Junior shuddered and tried to flinch away, but he failed to escape the claw.

With his hand on Junior's shoulder, he slipped the lien card into his front pocket on the vest.

"I'm thankful for your hospitality." Sykes smiled like a demon.

He then turned back around and vaulted over the bar counter. He took the blue rag from way back out of his pants and started wiping.

"Son, come and wipe the glasses."

I spared one last glance at Junior and his bodyguards before similarly vaulting over the counter.

It didn't go too well. My hip hit the edge on the other side and my leg knocked over the root beer bottle, along with smashing the glasses.

Sykes stared at me.

"Those were my favorite glasses."

"Just… get wiping." I was limping. "I think broke my hip."

He snapped his fingers to heal me before he shrugged and continued his wiping.

…

The breaking glass seemed to be enough to get Junior out of his trance.

He stood up and walked away. I noticed him trembling the entire time. The twins followed soon after, also trembling.

Sykes spoke up so Junior could hear.

"Boss, I'll call you if I need you!" He waved his scroll at him. "You better come!"

Junior walked faster.

…

"What a nice man." Sykes tossed an empty glass and a green rag to me.

I started wiping.

 **-Break-**

Business was really picking up. The dance floor was now filled with people and Sykes was currently telling stories to a customer.

Sykes told me to keep an eye on the entrance and to let him know when she arrives. He never told me about his plan.

Ah, what a coincidence, it's Yang.

"She's arrived." I was leaning on the wall behind the counter, a glass and a rag in my hands.

Sykes stopped his casual conversation, wiping the sweet smile off his face.

I didn't even know Sykes could manage a normal conversation.

He relocated himself to in front of a couple empty seats - probably the place she would sit - and made himself busy by wiping the counter.

She walked over to one of the empty seats and sat there, as predicted.

Sykes stopped wiping and looked up.

Sykes made a show of scrutinizing her before saying, "Aren't you a little young to be drinking here?"

She looked back at him. "Aren't you a little young to have white hair?"

"Eh." He shrugged. "So, what can I get you, Goldilocks?"

She raised a brow at the foreign name before replying. "One strawberry sunrise, no ice."

Sykes raised an metaphorical eyebrow. "That doesn't have any alcohol in it."

She seemed confused. "So?"

"So, he can get it for you." He jabbed a thumb at me. "I only know alcohol."

Huh?

"What are you talking about?! I don't know how to make a strawberry sunrise!" What is he trying to do?

"Well, I don't know either." He looked at me and kept his thumb up. "And you are the one who needs to learn."

 _Say no and leave._

He telepathically told me. What is he planning?

Might as well go along with him.

"No." I shook my head. "I'm on break anyways." I grabbed a beer and exited through a back door. Before I left, I snuck a glance at the girl. She seemed to have only been watching our antics with a smile and nothing else.

I hung out behind the door, leaving it cracked so I could hear what Sykes was up to.

"Well there you go, sweetheart, I'm sorry about that." A pause. "How about a strawberry sunset? It has a little alcohol, but kids like you drink it all the time. On the house."

It was a moment before she replied. "Sure."

"Great."

A couple seconds of the sound of pouring a stirring later…

 _Clink_

"There you go, sweetheart."

It sounds like she took a sip. "Not bad."

After a moment, I heard the sound of hair flying about and slapping on a jacket. I'm guessing she shook her head, hard.

She started talking again.

"I need to see your… boss."

Something was off.

Sykes spoke back. "Him? He's busy right now. What do you need him for?"

"I… uh… need him to… uh…"

I heard the sound of something slumping on a hard surface.

No no no no no.

He can't be this insane, right?

My train of thought was interrupted by Sykes kicking open the door I was listening into. He had an unconscious Yang over his shoulder.

Y-you didn't, right?!

"I spiked her drink. Now, we will have some fun with her."

 _HURK!_

 _COUGH COUGH COUGH_

A-are you s-serious?!

"No. I am not." Sykes wiped my spit off from his coat and began walking towards the door leading to an alleyway. "She was still conscious enough to listen when I said that. Now she is completely under, and should stay under for the next day or so."

Well, that's a relief in some odd way.

But still, "A-and why, exactly?"

Sykes glanced at me. "Are you a moron? The easiest way to interfere in a plot is to be the antagonist." He opened the door leading to the alleyway. "That, and, because then your future interactions with this girl in Beacon will be very interesting"

Not if she flays me alive the moment she sees me.

"Ah, well, good luck."

Bastard.

"So this is the plan B?"

"Yes. You see, it will create an interesting subplot of keeping the secret that she was almost raped from her teammates, before eventually admitting it to get help with her problems. As well as creating the gag of her trying to kill us when she sees us." He laid her body so that she was leaning on the front of a dumpster, with her legs parallel to the road. "All in all, this shouldn't detract from the original plot, while creating further plot complexity and multiple subplots."

That's an… _interesting_ way to put it.

He got to work removing a couple articles of clothing and messed with her hair so it looked frazzled. "Truthfully, even if she successfully kills you, the consequences of this event would still be completely worth it."

"Bastard."

"Yeah, well, I do what I can." His head shot towards the entrance to the alleyway. "Ruby is coming. We need to go."

He grabbed onto my arm and my surroundings changed. What was once brick walls and concrete floor was now the open sky and… well, I guess it still was a concrete floor.

We were on a roof overlooking the alleyway that we were just in.

"Well then, let's watch the show." Sykes pulled out two lawn chairs and two beers.

What is this? Football?

"I set up an illusion." He fell onto his chair. "Ruby will see us suspiciously walk into the alley with her sister on 'my' shoulder. Also, I prevented anyone from seeing or hearing us here, in case of prying eyes."

I sat on my chair. "You really are cruel, you know."

"It could have been worse." He sipped his beer. "I was debating whether or not to implant memories of us getting to work on her in her mind. Then, I debated giving her an ache on her lower body and legs. But, I did neither. I don't want her to gain a phobia of men. All she needs to do is _think_ that something happened to her." He seemed to think before continuing. "She's a strong girl, but not that strong."

He sipped his beer again. "So, I am like a saint."

Yeah, no.

...

"W-what are you doing with Yang?!" An obviously feminine voice called out.

He spoke up. "Well, here she comes." I leaned over the edge so I could see down.

I was able to catch the tail end of a flurry of what I assumed is rose petals, before I caught sight of a silhouette of a short girl with a frilly skirt, her massive scythe open and at the ready.

"YANG!" She used her speed ability to approach Yang's body. "A-are you okay?!"

She didn't seem to notice how strange it was that the suspicious characters were able to remove a couple of Yang's clothes and mess up her hair in less than two seconds before disappearing into nothingness after they walked around the corner.

She tried various ways to attempt to wake her sister up. None of them worked.

I looked at Sykes. "You know, I don't think Ruby is strong enough to lift up her sister."

Sykes was staring at Yang.

He seemed to be entranced by something.

He blinked back. "...Oh, that's probably right." He looked at me. "She should wake up soon. I'm not sticking around for when she does. I fear for Junior's wellbeing." He packed up the lawn chairs and beers.

He grabbed my arm.

We disappeared.

 **-Break-**

' _I spiked her drink. Now, we will have some fun with her.'_

Then Yang blacked out.

…

...But, she was still conscious. At least, in this black realm.

She looked around. There was nothing but black and other shades of black, it was like a curtain that separated her from her senses.

She was angry. Very angry. She was scared too; but mostly angry.

She slammed her fists on the darkness.

'LET. ME. OUT!'

 _SLAM_

'LET ME OUT!

 _SMASH_

'OUT!'

...

It didn't do anything.

 _SMASH_

 _CRASH_

 _SLAM_

 _..._

Her strikes were becoming lighter.

This feeling of weakness, vulnerability; she hated it.

It reminded her of that time 13 years ago.

'Let me… out.'

 _Slam_

 _Smash_

 _..._

Her arms were starting to hurt.

'Please…'

 _Thok_

She stopped.

...

All her anger was gone. All that was left was fear.

Her face felt odd.

She touched her face.

She was crying.

She couldn't help but chuckle at her situation.

...

Once again, she couldn't do anything.

She sat down and curled up into a ball. She didn't try to quench her tears.

'Someone… save me…'

…

...

...

 _CRAK_

She looked up.

A bright white crack appeared on the darkness.

She wanted to stand up and look through it, but she couldn't move.

...

Another crack appeared.

The light shining through was able to illuminate the realm a little bit.

She saw seven black tendrils attached to herself. One on each limb, one on her head, and two on her back, leading off far into the realm somewhere.

More cracks appeared.

...

More and more cracks appeared.

There was enough white lines that the room she was in seemed like it was half white half black.

...

 _SMASH_

The realm shattered like glass, the pieces falling under her.

Now everything was white.

All that was left was two wooden doors.

...

She tried to stand up.

It didn't work.

She tried harder.

Nothing happened.

She put her entire being into standing up.

It hurt.

 _CRIK_

She didn't stop, despite the pain.

 _CRASH_

The tendrils on her legs shattered. The pieces retreated into the whiteness with a hiss.

...

She could stand up now.

She tried to move forward.

She didn't.

She tried harder.

She shouldn't.

 _CRASH_

The tendrils on her back shattered like the other ones.

...

She moved in front of one of the doors.

She tried to reach out and grab the doorknob.

She couldn't.

She tried again.

She didn't want to.

She tried one more time.

 _CRASH_

The tendrils on her arms shattered.

...

She opened the door and took a step.

She wanted to turn around.

She took another step.

She should have went through the other door.

She walked through.

 _CRASH!_

 _..._

The last tendril broke.

...

She ran.

Yang didn't look back.

…

...

...

If she did, she would have seen a man with white hair, holding onto 7 black strings.

...

"Fatebreaker…"

The door closed.

 _Clik._

* * *

 **...**


	4. Four - An Odd Robbery

**Man, episode transcripts are a godsend.**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

She felt asphalt under her body and concrete under her head, elevated from the asphalt.

Yang opened her eyes and sat up.

It was nighttime, that much was obvious, with the only lights coming from a building in front of her and the stars. There was a streetlight, but it was off. She was laying on a street, her head on the curb.

She stood up and walked to the building.

On its porch was two tables, one of them had a watering can on it.

She knocked on the door, only to discover it was both unlocked and open. Pushing the door open all the way, she was greeted with an empty bar with drinks hanging from the ceiling.

It was then that she realized that wherever she was was both completely void of people, and that she hasn't heard a sound except for the ones she made. Honestly, it was unnerving.

She walked deeper into the bar and noticed a door and a staircase. She walked up and tried to open the door. It was locked. Strangely, no matter how much she fiddled with the knob, or did anything really with the door, it would not make a sound.

She gave up trying to kick down the newly-coined silent door and walked to the other side of the bar, where the staircase was.

She started to walk up the stairs.

 _Crash_

She held in a scream and jolted into a fighting position, turning around.

She saw a yellow bottle broken on the floor, it's contents creating a puddle that wrapped around a chair's legs. It seems like it fell from the ceiling.

 _-agon Wine_

The label read, or at least the part she could see.

Suddenly, everything disappeared. The bar. The street. The ground.

All that was left was a black starry sky.

She started falling.

She screamed. The feeling of falling unexpectedly was not a good one.

The air rushed past her ears. It got louder and louder.

She blacked out.

 **-Break-**

She shot her eyes open.

She was about to scream, but her current situation of not falling registered in her mind.

She was in a hospital room, white walls and the smell of disinfectant entered her senses.

In her room was two filled chairs, to the right of the door.

The chairs had both Taiyang and Ruby, both asleep, with the latter resting on her Dad's shoulder.

"...Dad?"

He stirred a little before waking up.

"...Yang? Yang! How do you feel? Are you okay?" He stood up, making sure Ruby didn't wake.

"What am I doing here?" Yang asked.

He bit his lip. "...Ruby found you being carried off unconscious into an alley. You've been out for two days. Do you remember anything?"

Yang thought for a moment before gritting her teeth and clenching her fists.

Her hair started to burn. "Those bastards! I can't believe he spiked my drink!"

The fire in her hair was extinguished. "...Did… did they do anything?" She was worried.

Dad glanced at Ruby. "The police says that they were only able to remove your jacket and ruffle your hair a bit before your sister scared them off. The doctors confirmed that."

Yang relaxed in her bed. "Oh thank god." Normally she would be angry about her hair.

But she was too relieved to be.

 **-Break-**

 _Earlier_

 _A cave, somewhere snowy_

"Genius! I am a genius!" Sykes was pacing around the cave with exaggerated hand gestures.

He turned to me. "Do you understand how well this works?!"

"N-no." I was shivering. "Y-you never t-told me a-anything."

He had done nothing but compliment himself and pace around the room ever since we arrived here.

"Oh." He stopped pacing.

"Well, I've thought of your reason for heading to Beacon. Listen closely son, you are going to need to make it sound believable once you arrive there."

He took in a deep breath. "Here's how it is. You and your father (me) have always been doing illegal acts, such as stealing things and threatening people. You were always hesitant, but your father (me) forced you to do it anyways." He pulled out two lawn chairs and set them facing each other before sitting in one. "But the breaking point was a recent event involving a certain blonde brawler." I sat down too. The positions of our seats made it seem like he was giving me 'The Talk'.

"Once that happened, you rebelled against your father (me) and chose to hide in the outlands for a couple days until your father's (my) rage was quelled and the Beacon school year began, thinking that your father (me) wouldn't be able to do anything to you if you were in Beacon. Your father (me) was planning for you to infiltrate Beacon anyways, so he already had the appropriate documents ready." He threw on a huge smile.

"Do you know what this means?!" He gave me no room to talk.

"It will create the interesting relationship between you and the yellow girl of her being very angry at you at all times and you feeling extremely guilty!" He leaned forward in his chair. "It will also instill a sense of empathy between you and the black girl! After all, your situations are similar!" Sykes got more and more excited. "Blake wanting to defend you and Yang wanting to kill you will create discord within the team! Plot complexity! Blake won't know exactly what you did you her until much later! You'll fit right in!" He stood up.

"Separately, this will lead to a climax in which your father (me) will discover how family is more important than crime and save the academy! Maybe even sacrificing himself to do it!"

His voice got progressively higher pitched as he talked.

"Then everything will change! I haven't had _this much fun in centuries!"_

Sykes froze.

"Ah… ahh... _ahhhhhhh_." He collapsed on to his chair, twitching.

I blinked.

D-did he just climax?

...

...what.

 _Thirty minutes later_

Sykes was back in action. He had started a fire and pulled out a blanket for me a little earlier.

Currently, and for the last twenty minutes as well, Sykes has been roaring with laughter non-stop.

He's a lot weirder than I give him credit for.

 **-Break-**

"Specialist Schnee, ma'am." A soldier said.

Winter looked up from her desk. "Yes?"

The soldier looked at his scroll. "Scouting teams one and two have reported sightings of a cave with strange laughter coming from it."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Way out here? Who on Remnant was in there?"

The soldier frowned while scrolling down on the screen. "The scouting teams did not explore further. They said, 'Frankly, the laughter creeped the hell out of me'."

Winter thought on that for a moment before glancing at the paperwork on her desk.

She gave an order. "Organize a small armed squad. I will be going as well. We will be meeting our friend in the cave."

The soldier straightened his back and saluted. "Yes ma'am."

He left the room.

 _Thirty minutes later_

Winter was trudging through the snow, five armed soldiers behind her.

"Ma'am, there's the cave." A soldier pointed to a cave. "It sounds like he is done laughing."

Winter squinted slightly towards the cave. She could see the flickering of fire coming from inside. "He's still in there."

They approached the entrance to the cave.

Once inside, they saw a silhouette of a man from the back, tending to a fire.

The man spoke before they could.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" The man stood up, back still to them.

Now that they could see the man better, they noticed that he had white hair and was wearing a black coat. On the back of the coat was the Schnee Dust Company logo, in white.

"I don't need to answer that." Winter became suspicious. "Why are you wearing the SDC logo?" It's copyrighted.

The man chuckled darkly. "You'll need to ask a Schnee about that."

One of the soldiers spoke up behind her. "Specialist Schnee? You know him?"

She was about to deny it, but she felt a powerful presence coming from the man.

The man turned around with a smile. "You are a Schnee?"

The man reached into his coat and pulled out an intimidating silver revolver.

"Ma'am! Watch ou-"

 _BANG!_

A body hit the floor.

Winter was shocked by the abrupt shot.

Finding herself again, she was about to use a glyph to fire herself at the man, but the man opened his mouth first.

" _ **It must be my lucky day."**_

She was only able to fall to her knees. Her heart threatened to stop and she sweat from every pore.

It felt like the temperature plummeted to subzero levels.

Fear? It's been a long time since she has felt that. Longer still, that she's felt this much. Maybe never.

She looked up at the man, who was still smiling.

But the smile was anything but sweet.

 _BANG!_

Another soldier hit the floor. She couldn't see the soldiers, they were behind her.

 _BANG!_

Her glyphs would break immediately after appearing.

 _BANG!_

She tried to move. Her body wouldn't listen to her.

 _BANG!_

She was alone now.

The man walked in front of her and pressed the barrel of the revolver to her head.

She was hyperventilating.

The man squatted down, still holding the revolver to her head.

She got a look at the mans face. He was hiding his eyes behind his hair, and had pale skin with all sorts of faded scars on it.

"Oh yes, if you ever do see you father again,"

" _ **Tell him that Sykes has returned."**_

He smiled even more demonically than before.

 _Bang._

Winter's vision turned black.

…

…

...

Winter shot up.

A voice came from somewhere

"Specialist Schnee, ma'am."

"Huh?" She was at her desk.

"Scouting teams one and two have reported sightings of a cave with strange laughter coming from it."

Her heart jumped. "NO! ...No! Leave him alone!" Winter shook her hands in front of her.

The soldier raised an eyebrow, but nodded and left the room.

...

After a moment, Winter put her head on the desk. "...What the hell was that."

…

The soldier walking away from her room smiled.

He disappeared into thin air.

 **-Break-**

I was walking on a road somewhere back in Vale next to Sykes.

"-then I shot her soldiers, before shooting her but actually sending her back in time thirty minutes."

"Who was she?"

"A secret."

Bastard.

"You are really good a terrifying people, you know." I told him.

"I noticed that too." He nodded. "But that was necessary. Now, we are ready to enter the plot safely, and without any loose ends."

I scoffed. "Safely."

"Figuratively." We entered a cafe and sat down. "So, here's what we're gonna do."

"I will train you for the next week, then you will go to Beacon. I will go meet Roman, and be an antagonist with him. You will stay in Beacon and bond with the students or something."

"Can you even teach?" He doesn't look like the teaching type.

"It's not as much teaching as it is gifting you information. Once I'm done, you should be around the high-average level of students there, without aura. That, when combined with an initiation gift I plan on giving you later, should give you enough power to evenly match most of the main characters. Maybe."

"Will you awaken my aura?" I completely forgot about aura.

"No. You should never awaken your aura. The moment that you do, your soul will no longer grow in strength until you die." He took out the thermos and poured some for both of us. "For normal humans, this would be completely fine. For you though, it will prevent any growth on your divine abilities."

The liquid was green and clear. I sipped. It tasted like apples.

"That," he pointed at my cup, "is concentrated divinity. It is much more potent than the one I gave you earlier. It will act as your aura."

"Finish it, and we can get started."

I downed it all. It felt like once I swallowed, it spread all throughout my body, instead of heading to my stomach.

"Good. Let's go." He put a card on the table and then grabbed my shoulder.

We disappeared.

Hopefully, he left exact change this time.

 **-Break-**

I found myself somewhere familiar in Forever Fall.

"Recognize this place? It's where you first arrived here, three days ago." He clapped his hands. "And it's the best place to put the Sykes' family cabin." He pointed behind me.

I turned around.

Suddenly there was a wooden cabin there, that wasn't there before. I stopped getting surprised at Sykes's bullshit a while ago, but it's still interesting to see.

"This is our family home. Maybe, you could bring your friends over one day to try to find clues on me and further the plot." He opened the door and entered. "When we are done here I'll put in some evidence of a happy family living here, and enough clues about me that will successfully give you some context on your mysterious father (me)."

He sat down on an old wooden chair that wasn't there when he started to lower his body.

"Well then, the first order of business is you summoning a weapon." He pointed to a bit of empty floor in front of him. "Focus your mind and say a chant. I'll direct your power to that spot there and hopefully something good will come out."

A chant? "What chant?"

"Make one up. You are a deity (technically), you can do whatever you want."

Oh, okay.

Umm, let's see.

...

"By the… seven seas… and the … eight divines…"

Sykes snorted and started trembling, covering his mouth with his hand.

Bastard.

"I… wish upon a star… for a weapon that will… be by my side for all of eternity."

Sykes stood up, still trembling. "Okay… _heehee.._ now say the closing statement to actually invoke the spell."

Okay, I know what to do.

I squatted and slammed my hand on the ground.

 _ **[GRAND SUMMONING JUTSU]**_

Sykes collapsed.

" _AAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHA!"_

While he was laughing his ass off, a red magic circle appeared on the floor in front of me.

It spun, faster and faster until a rectangular prism of red light, similar to what the circle was made of, came out and floated above the circle.

The magic circle faded away, but the prism stayed floating.

I didn't know what to do next, so I waited for Sykes to quit laughing and get up.

…

…

…

"GET UP!" I kicked him in the head.

"Huh?" He stopped laughing and looked up at me. "Oh yeah, I forgot." He stood up, panting.

"What is this thing?" I pointed at the strange object.

"That… _hic_ … is a portal to one of the divine realms. There are seven divine realms, one for each level of god, and it acts pretty much as just a one-stop shop for everything a god would need to do. This one is of the lowest level." He gestured reaching his arm out and grabbing something. "Just reach in and grab whatever is in there, then pull it out."

I put my arm in. It felt warm, like a bath at a good temperature.

After grabbing nothing but air, I finally managed to grasp onto a handle for something.

I pulled it a little. It had a weight on the end, and wasn't very long.

Did I just summon Mjolnir?

I started to pull it out. The portal itself started to twist and mold itself to whatever I was grabbing.

When the handle would have came out, the portal turned itself into a handle, black and cold like metal.

The more I pulled, the more the portal's light dimmed and turned to black metal.

Finally, the portal was completely molded to a shape.

The still-bright shape dimmed and showed it's true appearance.

…

Sykes collapsed.

" _AHAHHAHAHAHAHHHAHHAHAHAHHA!"_

Well, it's not Mjolnir.

...

I collapsed in defeat.

" _A… AAHHAHA!… A-A F-FRYING PAN! AHAHHAAAAHHHHHHAAA!"_ Sykes was almost choking.

Can I return it?

…

…

...

"Woo… woo…" Sykes was barely finished calming down.

While he was laughing, I got a better look of the pan.

On the frying part of it, there was the logo for RWBY.

Why was that there?

...

"Let me see it." Sykes held his hand out.

I handed it to him and he looked closely at it.

...

"Ah! I see." He turned to me. "Your divine ability is 'Deity of Branded Merchandise'. It allows you some authority over objects that are branded with a company or a show or something." He looked at me. "So, this is not a frying pan."

"This is The Official RWBY™ Frying Pan™."

What the hell is that.

"It's limited edition. The frying pan, that is."

Wait a second. "When were Official RWBY™ Frying Pans™ made?"

"Earth changed a lot since you died." He did not explain further.

...

"Well, it could be worse." Sykes said to me.

And how is that?

"You could've gotten a dakimakura."

...

Well, I guess you're right.

"Besides, a frying pan isn't that bad of a weapon. It has a built in shield, can bash pretty well, and you can cook with it too." He handed the pan back to me. "And since it technically is a divine treasure, it should be pretty much unbreakable."

...

...

...

"Well then, let's get training." He pointed to the chair he was sitting on earlier. "Sit there."

I sat down.

"Here's a rundown of what you will learn: speed, speed, and more speed. It's all about speed." He pointed at himself. "I may not look like it, but my combat abilities are mainly based around speed. Of course, my other skills are so powerful to a point where it doesn't really matter, but regardless, some of my beginner skills should do you well."

He pointed at my frying pan. "With enough speed, that heavy pan will become a _very_ potent weapon. Any questions before I begin?"

What exactly is going to happen?

"You will go into a coma for exactly one week, and when that passes, you will wake up with the muscle memory and knowledge of a couple speed and movement-related skills. Your body will stay the same though, but after using the skills a couple times, your body should build the right muscles and adapt slowly. Anything else?"

Will it hurt?

"You will wake up with a headache. The time will go by for you instantly as well."

"No more questions. I'm starting now."

He brought his hand to his face and lifted the hair covering his eyes.

I was curious. What really is under there?

Behind the hair was a scarily black blindfold. So black, in fact, that I thought it didn't exist.

Does this mean...

"Are you… blind?"

"Yes. Sleep tight."

Then I immediately blacked out.

 **-Break-**

 _Three days later, five days before Beacon_

Ruby was browsing magazines at a store that she stumbled upon. She had her headphones on and was blissfully unaware of the situation that was occurring at the moment.

Eventually, she noticed the muffled voice repeating itself annoyingly coming from behind her.

She turned around. "Yes?"

"I said, put your hands in the air, now!" The man was wearing a black suit and hat with red glasses.

"Are you… robbing me?"

"Yes!"

"Ohhhhhh…."

…

 _Crash!_

Ruby and the man went crashing through the window.

A man with orange hair and too much makeup on looked at her, then to his subordinates (she assumed). "Get her!"

The subordinates charged at her.

…

The man looked down on the bodies of his recently demolished henchmen. "You were worth every cent. Truly, you were."

The man looked at Ruby before putting out his cigar. "Well, Red, I think we can all say that it's been an eventful evening. Unfortunately," the man's cane opened up at the bottom to reveal a gun barrel. "This is where we part ways."

 _Blam!_

Ruby dodged the blast but was blinded. When she could see again, the man was already far up on a ladder leading to a roof.

She turned to the owner of the store. "You okay if I go after him?" The man nodded.

She used her weapon to jump to the top of the roof that the man was able to reach the top of by now.

Ruby yelled. "Hey!"

The man looked at her from the edge of the roof. "Annoying."

Ruby was tensing up for a battle, but the man tossed a red dust crystal towards her.

Ruby saw something move at the corner of her eye. She looked over.

A man with a black coat and white hair was standing on a roof a couple buildings away.

 _That's one of the guys who hurt Yang!_

The man waved and nodded. He was holding something in his hand.

She was about to change targets, but she heard a voice from the man she was chasing after before.

"You listening, Red? This is the end." She looked back at the orange man. He got on a bullhead while she wasn't paying attention, and was now aiming his cane near her.

"Wh-wait!" Ruby stuttered. Too much was going on.

The white haired man moved in the corner of her eye. He seemed to have thrown whatever was in his hand.

…

The man threw three small rocks.

Time seemed to slow.

The first rock hit Ruby in the temple. She didn't notice, but it seemed to have disabled her aura for a moment.

The second rock hit the orange man's cane, causing his aim to shift slightly.

The third rock hit a woman's achilles heel, making the woman stumble and slow down slightly.

The orange man fired his cane.

 _Blam_

The bullet which was meant for the red crystal moved towards it's new target.

Ruby's left eye.

It hit.

Before it could do any potentially fatal damage, though, Ruby's aura turned on again and stopped the bullet.

Then a woman came from somewhere and made a shield, protecting Ruby from an explosion that never happened.

Ruby fell onto her bottom, and screamed all while covering her eye.

The woman looked next to her, at the bleeding girl who was screaming.

Past the girl, she noticed a man with white hair wearing a dark coat smiling and waving at her.

The man moved his arm as if he was throwing something.

 _Thok_

Ruby's screams stopped. She was unconscious. A small rock appeared beside her head.

Then the woman heard the unmistakable sound of fire Dust igniting.

She hastily put up the shield she had just put down.

 _BOOM_

When the dust cleared, the man and the bullhead had disappeared.

"...Damn." The woman cursed before picking up the girl and leaving the area.

 **-Break-**

Ruby opened her eyes (or eye). She was in a hospital room.

She sat up in bed.

She noticed that there was various medical equipment attached to her body.

There was a small box on her legs. It was wrapped with black gift wrapping paper with small white circles on it.

She picked it up and read the label.

 _From: The Man with White Hair_

Ruby's heart skipped a beat.

 _What does he want this time?_

Against her better judgement, she unwrapped it and opened the box.

Inside, placed so you could see it immediately, was a black eyepatch with a red 'X' on it.

She lifted up the eyepatch.

It actually complemented her outfit pretty well, she noticed.

She took off the medical eyepatch she had on, then put on this one.

It fit perfectly. No adjustments were needed, and it created an airtight space over her left eye.

Now that she thought about it, that was kind of creepy. Then another thought came.

 _Wait, he came here?!_

…

…

…

The door to her room opened, and two people stepped in.

First was a rather tall man with grey hair and black glasses, wearing a dark green suit. He was carrying a tray of cookies.

After him came an equally tall blonde woman with green eyes. Ruby could have sworn she had seen her before, but she could not put her finger on it.

The grey haired man spoke up after a small staring skirmish.

"Ruby Rose."

He leaned in.

"You… have silver… eyes." He sounded unsure on the last word.

Ruby didn't understand. "U-um…"

He put down the tray of cookies.

He seemed to notice the new eyepatch.

"Where did you get that eyepatch?"

Ruby got nervous. "The… man with white hair... gave it to me."

The woman with blonde hair seemed to react at the mention of the man.

"How well do you know this… man?" He spoke up.

"He-he was going to h-hurt my sister!" Ruby's face flushed a little.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Hurt?"

Ruby's face reddened a little more. "Y-Yang says to keep it a secret." Ruby zipped her mouth with her fingers. "Y-you have to ask her."

The man turned to his associate and shrugged. When he turned back to Ruby, he caught sight of her scythe, still completely open.

"Where did you learn to use that?" He pointed at the scythe.

"S-Signal Academy."

 _One boring conversation later_

The man looked at Ruby. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster of Beacon.

Ozpin smiled. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you." Ruby smiled back.

"Do you want to come to my school?" The man bluntly said.

"More than anything."

Ozpin glanced at the blonde woman, who glared back.

He sighed. "Do you think you can still fight? With your recent injuries, that is."

Ruby looked at the man straight in the eyes. "Yes." She said with the most confidence she could gather.

She saw the woman's glare soften.

Ozpin looked at her back in her eye(s). After a moment, he spoke. "Well, okay. You'll be on probation the first semester."

Ruby was surprised, but she smiled. "Yes, sir!"

 **-Break-**

 _A bullhead_

Roman had many questions.

He looked at his cane oddly. When did he load it with a bullet?

What knocked his aim off?

He looked up to the storage space on the bullhead.

 _Who the hell wrapped all these presents?_

* * *

 _ **"Wow, you really like knocking out women, don't you, Sykes?" -Markus (if he was awake)**_


	5. Five - An Odd Goodbye

**Ah, finally starting canon. (Next chapter)**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

 _Somewhere_

Sykes was thinking.

Roman was aiming at the dust crystal, like he was supposed to. He had to intervene to make sure he broke fate. And even still, it was an incomplete break.

Was the report wrong?

That never happened before. It shouldn't be possible.

What is going on?

…

Well, whatever.

Sykes needed to meet Roman and the rest of the group.

The entire gang won't meet until later on. So, Sykes would have to make do with only talking to Roman.

Not that that is a problem. In fact, working under Roman and Roman only would be great. Sykes has no interest in other people's big plans.

Now he just needs to wait.

 **-Break-**

 _A warehouse_

All the dust was unpacked and put in the warehouse. There wasn't much, only one canister Roman kept on his body.

"I'm disappointed, Roman." A woman's voice purred. She was sitting on top of a container.

Roman shook his hands in front of him. "Hey, hey, hey! How would I have known a brat would come and mess everything up?"

The presents were also taken out of the bullhead and put on the floor. There was six of them, all of varying sizes.

"Don't let it happen again, Roman." The woman stood up to leave. "You wouldn't want any… unforeseen consequences, wouldn't you?" She left those words hanging in the air before leaving.

Roman did not reply, but you could see sweat on his brow.

...

Once he was sure the woman was far enough away from him to relax, he turned to the presents. They all were addressed to him.

The labels all read:

 _From: A Secret Admirer_

He thought for a moment before shrugging. He opened the first and smallest present.

A toaster.

The second.

A deep fryer.

The third.

Pots and pans.

The fourth.

Kitchen utensils. Lots and lots of kitchen utensils.

The fifth.

Various jellies, jams and preserves. Mostly of red fruit.

...

Roman looked at his new collection.

"I don't remember getting married."

…

He turned to the last and biggest present.

 _Let me guess, washing machine?_

It was the right size for a washing machine or dryer.

He unwrapped it to find a nondescript brown box. He cut the tape and opened the package.

He looked in.

He blinked.

...

"What's up?"

A smiling man with white hair was in the box.

…

…

…

Huh.

The man got up and stretched his arms above his head. A sickening pop came out of his shoulder. He must have dislocated it to fit in the box.

Romans first impression?

Insane.

Putting himself in the box, dislocating a shoulder to do so? No reaction at all when he set it?

The unnerving smile he had plastered on his face the entire time?

There is something very wrong with him. That was easy to see.

Roman gripped his cane ever so slightly tighter. "And… who are you?"

The man looked over. "Oh yes, where are my manners?" The man stepped out of the box and bowed. "You may call me Sykes. No need to introduce yourself, Torchwick."

The man straightened his posture again. "I came here to make a deal with you." He noticed the other gifts were already opened. "Do you like my gifts?"

"A deal? Sorry pal, I'm already employed." Roman ignored the question.

The man shook his finger in front of him. "No, no, no, silly! I'm not making you work for me, rather, I wish to work for you!" The man chuckled. "I believe I have many skills that can be useful to you, even in your current situation."

"Hmph. Get in line, pal." Roman looked down on him with a cocky smirk. "God knows I don't need someone mentally disab-"

 _BANG!_

Roman was cut off.

The man was able to take out a revolver, shoot it and put it back before Roman could even see him move.

 _He's fast!_

"I assure you, Torchwick. I am very much able." The man's smile seemed to widen.

Roman touched his face. His cheek was bleeding.

 _Why didn't my aura stop it? What if he shot me in the head?_

As if the man enjoyed his confusion, the man's smile widened even further.

"What… what exactly do you want?" Roman's smile disappeared.

"I wish for you to employ me, so to speak." Sykes said, "Similar to that girl, Neopolitan, I believe her name was." The man put his arms out like a saint. "After all, all respectable villains must have at least two underlings, right!? I'm sure you've seen it before."

Roman was slightly angered at him referring to Neo as an underling, but he could not deny he was slightly impressed by his skill.

"...Fine." Roman didn't trust this man one bit, but the more power he has, the more of a chance he could escape from that bitch's grasp.

"Great!" The man offered his hand. "I'm sure this will be the beginnings of a _very_ fruitful relationship."

Roman hesitantly took it. Once he got his hand back, he noticed a piece of paper in his hand with a scroll number on it.

"So, boss, what do you got for me? All this talking has got me bored." The man's smile returned to a normal size. "Robbery? Assassination? Threatening? Jailbreak? I've done it all before!"

Roman was put off a little by his enthusiasm, but he gave him something to do anyways. "Dust robbery. Go now, call it a test if you want to."

The man's smile widened again, before he saluted. "Yes, boss!"

Then the man just disappeared.

Roman widened his eyes at this.

 _An illusion?_

He touched his cheek, which was still bleeding.

 _No, can't be._

...

He put the phone number on his contacts list.

 _What was his name again?_

 _Oh, Sykes, wasn't it._

An interesting guy.

Roman went to the warehouse's manager office and shut the door.

 _The morning_

Roman exited the manager's office.

He heard very muffled sounds in the warehouse.

He crept over to the main room, and was not prepared at all for what he saw.

…

 _...Who built a cabin in the warehouse?_

...

The cabin's door opened, and Sykes stepped out, smiling like ever.

He noticed Roman and waved, his smile widening ever so slightly.

"Hey boss! I was able to get my hands on some Dust." He pointed to a direction.

In the direction he was pointing at was a brand new and undamaged shipping container, with the SDC logo on it.

"You… you were able to take an _entire_ shipping container of dust by yourself!? In one night? And you built a cabin?!" Roman couldn't believe it.

"Well, did you expect me to sleep on the floor?" Sykes's smile disappeared to make way for an expression of… worry? "So… did I pass the test?"

Roman put a palm to his face. He was beginning to understand what kind of guy Sykes is.

"...Yes, you passed. Congratulations."

Sykes's smile came back in full force and he threw his hands up in the air. "Yay! This calls for a celebration!" He went back into his cabin and came out with a huge 60' TV, some chairs, a strange black box, and a couple six-packs of beer. After setting them all up in record time, he placed a movie unknown to Roman in the black box before sitting back in his chair and turning on the TV.

Roman was just standing there, shocked still at the strangeness happening in front of him.

"Boss, come and sit. Everyone should relax once in a while, right?" Sykes gestured to one of the seats around him.

Roman, finally regaining control, didn't see why not, so he sat down.

"This is one of my favorite movies. It is called _Titanic._ " He passed a beer over to Roman. "You'll need it."

Roman was not prepared.

…

 **-Break-**

…

"...Roman, what are you doing?" A woman came back to the warehouse to see two men brooding on the floor, with many empty beer bottles rolling on the floor. And a cabin.

Roman looked up with red eyes. "...Oh, it's you. What do you want this time?"

"Who's your… friend?" She glanced at the man with the black coat on.

She then noticed the various cooking items, appliances and jams.

...

"Oh, well, congratulations, Roman."

"...It's not what you're thinking. He's working for me." Roman slapped the other man on the back of the head. "Get up, numbnut."

The white haired man stopped brooding and stood up. "...Eh? What is it, boss?" He then noticed the woman. "Who is this, boss?"

"She is your boss's boss. Your grandboss, so to speak."

The woman offered a hand, palm down. "My name is Cinder Fall, but you may call me ma'am."

Sykes kneeled to grab the hand and lightly kissed her knuckles. "You can call me Sykes. It is a pleasure, ma'am."

Sykes suddenly shot up straight. He then looked at his wrist (where there was no watch) and swore under his breath. "Boss, I gotta grab some Dust now, see ya!" Before disappearing.

Cinder raised an eyebrow at his disappearance. "Illusion?"

"I don't think so." Roman pointed at his cheek, which had a bandage on it. "This is very much real."

"He attacked you? How much do you trust him?" Cinder was curious about this man.

"I don't. But he takes orders and is good at what he does. That's enough for me."

"Better than you?"

Roman chuckled. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

…

"Is he… okay, up there?"

"I doubt it."

Roman continued.

"So, what do you need this time?"

…

…

…

…

…

...

Less than fifteen minutes later, whatever they were talking about was interrupted.

 _HONK!_

A semi truck drove into the warehouse. Being towed behind was a trailer, holding one freight container of dust.

It soon pulled in front of them, and Sykes hopped out of the truck's cabin.

He then walked over to the side and tapped on the container a couple times. "Well, there we go. One container of dust. I'm going to rest now, boss. Traffic was a killer."

He walked into his cabin and shut the door.

…

Cinder spoke up first. "You're right, he really is good."

Roman sounded exasperated. "...I can't get used to him."

 **-Break-**

 _Four days later, one day until Beacon_

Sykes appeared somewhere in Forever Fall.

He started to walk in a direction.

After a short hike, he came across a completely out of place wooden cabin. It wasn't even made out of wood from Forever Fall trees.

He entered.

Inside, two chairs were facing each other, with one of them being empty. The other was taken by Markus, whose head was slumped forward. A frying pan was on his lap.

Sykes sat on the empty chair and waited.

 **-Break-**

...

"Wake up."

I shot up with a start. "HAH!"

Sykes flinched. "...Congratulations. You did it."

He continued. "You now are no longer completely useless in a fight. Now come, let's go outside to check out what skills you managed to absorb."

Okay.

…

We stood outside, in a clearing behind the house (that wasn't cleared before). By then I could already tell something was off. My steps were different, namely how I now made larger, more efficient strides and had a much better grip on the floor somehow.

Sykes put his hand on my head. "Well, let's see what you got."

He seemed to think for a moment.

"Well, you got three skills. One for long-distance quick travel, one for short-distance extremely quick movements, and a martial art style utilising your legs. Very surprising, I thought you would have only been able to get one skill."

...

He backed away from me. "Well, let's test it out."

 _GRRRRRROAAR!_

"Turn around, Markus. A beowolf is behind you." Who would've guessed.

I slowly turned around and was greeted by a drool coming from a white mask with red eyes staring right at me.

The beowolf swung a claw at me, but it missed due to me throwing myself backwards and stumbling when I landed. The beowolf did not seem to like this very much, so it roared and charged at me.

Just as I was about to jump to the side, I had the urge to move my legs in a certain fashion. I could not stop myself.

Suddenly, I was behind and in the air slightly above the beowolf.

Before I could think on how I got here, I realized that my body was already in a position to drop a flying axe kick, right on the Grimm's back. The urges continued, but this time I followed them consciously.

I pulled my leg down, and it slammed on the Grimm's back at extremely fast speeds.

 _CRAK_

I think I broke it. The Grimm's back, that is.

The beowolf collapsed into the ground, sliding a little from the momentum of the charge. It soon evaporated into whatever it is Grimm evaporate into. I fell onto my feet and landed with a stumble.

Then the pain came.

" _AHHHHHH!_ "

"MY LEGS!"

The worst cramp in all of the universe attacked my legs. I collapsed, rubbing my legs furiously trying to sooth my muscles.

Sykes was laughing.

Bastard.

…

Eventually, my legs were finally back in my own control, even if they were still sore as hell.

"Nice job there, son." Sykes stopped watching and spoke up. "That combination of instant dashing and a kick will serve you very well."

"Now then, I got you two gifts. They will help you in Beacon."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of black combat boots that went up to just under the knees.

"These will be your weapon. They have rocket thrusters in all directions and a blade that can extend from the back of your heel and the front of your feet. It also has a spike than can come out of the ball of your foot, on the sole. Also, it will prevent any shock from traveling to your legs. There's no guns."

He tossed them over to me. I slid them on, they fit perfectly. After I put them on, a sound reminiscent of air being forced out sounded out and the boots got tighter around my feet and lower legs.

I stood up. They didn't weigh down my feet at all. I looked at Sykes. "What else?"

He pulled out another black object. "Here." He threw it over. It was some sort of clothing.

I held it up my the collar and it unfolded itself.

"...How sweet of you, Sykes."

It was a carbon copy of Sykes's black coat.

"Hmph. Yeah. It is pretty strong as armor, so it will serve as your defensive item and can hold your frying pan. Not as defensible as mine, though. Also, it will be a plot item that will have originally belonged to your father (me). I will change my coat."

I slid it on, and like the boots, it forced all the air out of its sleeves. I grabbed the frying pan, which I had forgotten about until now, and slid it onto my back, but inside my coat.

The frying pan handle was sticking out of the the coat. If you didn't know better, you'd have thought it was a sword.

"Here." He tossed two objects at me.

One was a wrapped cheeseburger, and the other was a compass without any marks or cardinal directions on it.

I looked up after looking at the objects that I caught in my hand. "What… are you doing?" Sykes was suspiciously approaching me.

"...Consider this training. Try to come back here before the ship leaves to Beacon tomorrow. The compass will point here after five hours have passed. Bye!" He touched my arm and my surroundings changed.

But this time, Sykes wasn't with me.

...

I was somewhere else in Forever Fall. I was very angry.

"SYKES!" I yelled to the sky. "YOU BAAAASTAAAAAARRRD!"

A couple birds were scared out of their trees.

…

...

...

 _GRRRRRROOOOAAARRR!_

...

Oops.

 **-Break-**

 _The next day. Day of Beacon._

 _Morning. 8 AM_

Sykes was sitting on a rocking chair on his newly-created porch. He's been doing nothing but rock for the last 20 hours or so.

He was starting to get impatient. The ship would be leaving soon. Not like it matters, if he misses it Sykes could just teleport him, but deadlines are deadlines.

Suddenly, a bush moved from the edge of the clearing. A body came out and fell face first on the ground. It was Markus. He wasn't in good shape. Many bleeding scars were on his body, and he was also bleeding in a couple places that usually don't bleed.

"Nice job." Just as expected.

He received no reply though, Markus was unconscious.

Sykes came over, lifted him up and placed him on the swinging bench that wasn't there a moment ago. He grabbed a bottle of concentrated divinity and poured it into his son's mouth.

After a couple minutes, Markus was in perfect condition, with his muscles a couple levels larger than they were before, especially the ones on his legs and waist. Sykes got another bottle and force fed it to him, refueling his 'aura'.

…

Eventually, Markus woke up. The ship has left Vale by this point.

"BASTARD!" was the words he said even before he opened his eyes.

"You know, you have gotten quite a bit physically stronger, and mastered your skills and weapon to an extent." Sykes crossed his arms. "You should be thanking me. Normal people take years to reach the level you are at, you know."

Markus opened his eyes to yell out another expletive, but Sykes talked first.

"Okay, I get the idea." He rolled his eyes (metaphorically). "Anyways, the ship to Beacon has already left. That's not a problem, I can just teleport you on the ship. But then it leaves no time for goodbyes. So, I will tell you what you need to do."

Sykes walked closer. "You need to act the part of someone who just realized that their father is evil beyond doubt (and that you helped him all the while) and that you are hiding from him. So, you need to give the impression of depression and guilt. Do not approach anyone. Do not talk often. Hide from Ruby and Yang. Act like you don't enjoy telling people about your family. Be hesitant to leave the academy. Things like that. Do you understand?" Sykes said in the most serious tone Markus has ever heard from him.

Markus sighed. He won't be getting his revenge on Sykes anytime soon. "I understand."

"Good." Sykes nodded. "You can still call me, by the way. Even if you don't, I'll still show up every so often to check up on you." He crossed his arms. "So, do you have anything to say to your father before you go to your first day of school?"

...

Markus thought for a moment. "...Thanks, I guess." He looked up to Sykes. "For everything."

Sykes chuckled. "It's no problem, my dear son. Next time we meet - at least with people watching us, that is - we will be enemies. I hope you will be able to attack me when that day comes." Sykes offered his hand. "Take my hand, and you will teleport onto the ship."

Markus looked down at his clothes to make sure he had everything he needed before nodding to himself.

...

Markus reached out. "Goodbye, father."

Sykes smirked. "Goodbye, my son."

...

Markus disappeared.

…

 **-Break-**

…

…

…

Sykes sighed. "What an odd feeling."

…

He snapped his fingers and his coat started changing. The color white snaked up the back of it and bloomed into a snowflake once it reached a spot around the bottom of Sykes's left shoulder blade. Another white snake came up the coat and did the same, this time around the back of Sykes's right hip. From the front, you would barely be able to see the end points of the snowflakes under his armpit and on his hip. After that, all the religious symbols on his sleeve were replaced with a single white stripe.

Finally, one more white snake came from wherever and circled around his entire coat, along the edges. When it stopped moving, all the edges of the coat we're white about an inch in, including the ends of the sleeves. It also made the entire inside of the coat white.

Then, the red shirt he wore under the coat changed too. It shifted hues entirely until it became a light blue. On it, the SDC snowflake grew from the center, and under it, the name of the company was proudly displayed.

...

He entered the cabin, which hasn't changed its interior at all. The inside was just one large, rectangular room. Empty, except for the two chairs.

He snapped his fingers. A couple walls came out of the ground and attached themselves to the ceiling.

The new walls created three new rooms, two rooms facing each other at the other side of the house, creating a small hallway, and one at the end of the new hallway, much smaller than the others. This effectively cut the large room in half. He then turned to his left, and made a pretty decent kitchen on that side of the now-smaller main room. He looked to the right, and set up a sofa and a huge TV. Behind the sofa, he put a dinner table and some chairs.

He walked over to one of the smaller rooms that he'd just made. A bedroom. He put a twin-size bed with child-like blankets, along with various toys and other things a child would like.

He left and went to the room opposite it. Another bedroom. In this one he put a queen-size bed with much more mature blankets. He also put a desk against the wall, with a candle on it. Above the desk, he put a shelf that extended around the entire room.

He exited the room and went to the last room that he hadn't done anything to. The bathroom. He put exactly what you would expect. A toilet, sink and bath/shower. He made sure to put a rubber ducky on the edge of the bath.

He went back to the main room. Once he arrived, he turned around and snapped his fingers again. Suddenly, the room filled up with other miscellaneous things. Kitchen utensils, pots and pans, the drawer that pretty much everything is put into. A dresser, a couple tables in the corners of the room, family photos. Pretty much everything that would make someone think that this house was actually used, not just for show. He snapped his fingers again, and things were worn down. The sofa cushions became depressed, as if they've been sat on thousands of times. Some wooden edges were worn down.

He went back to 'his' room. He pulled out a book from his coat and placed it on the desk. A journal. It looked well-used.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot." He snapped his fingers. This time, he implanted memories into two certain people. The memories were placed deep into their mind, so they could only access them if they were reminded.

He went back to the entrance of the house and snapped his fingers one last time. This time, a layer of dust came from nowhere, covering pretty much everything in the house. Also, six windows were created. One in each bedroom, and four in this big room.

Before he left, though, he was curious about something. He picked up one of the family photos and looked at it.

In it, there was a happy family of three. One man with white hair, a woman with dark blue hair, and a newborn baby in her arms. They were standing in front of the house he was currently standing in. They were all smiling.

"Well, I guess this works."

He put down the photo of the family which never really existed and left the house.

He put a little something in the backyard before making sure that no Grimm would enter the area anytime soon.

Then, he disappeared.

 _ **-End of Part 1-**_

* * *

 _ **"Exactly as planned. Mwahahahaha." -Sykes (if he was more evil)**_


	6. Six - A Difficult Day

**Less of Sykes this chapter.**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

I opened my eyes to see myself in a large room with a long sofa along the walls and eight huge semicircular windows, four on each side, behind the sofas. I was laying on the sofa.

Before I made any movements, I scanned the area for any familiar blondes and/or their sisters. With this coat and me being seen by Ruby, it would be easy for them to recognise me instantly. I came up empty. It seems I am on a different ship then them.

That's good.

I looked around again, seeing if I could find any faces I recognise. I did not find any of the main characters.

That's fine as well.

I relaxed on my sofa, and looked out the window with my hands behind my head. Sykes gave me specific directions on how to act.

Pshhh. As if I'll follow them.

I know how to act for this role.

After all, I have experience.

...

My sightseeing was interrupted by the appearance of a certain woman's pants. It was a hologram, of course.

Glynda Goodwitch started talking. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon."

 _Who's that?_

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

 _Oh._

I spent the rest of my small trip recreating Yang and Ruby's script in my mind.

…

…

…

The ship arrived at the dock, and I, along with all the other students, disembarked.

I looked down the pathway to Beacon for a certain blonde girl and her sister again. Nothing.

Maybe they haven't arrived yet.

I started walking towards Beacon.

...

... Still walking.

…

…

…

Holy shit, why is this pathway so long.

…

Before I could make it to the door, a small group of people rushed passed me, a familiar blonde in the middle. Luckily, she didn't notice me.

Soon after, a could hear a small pop coming from far behind me. Ruby must have exploded. Everything is going as expected.

I went past the door, and found myself in a round auditorium-type room. I took place against the wall, as far away as possible from Yang.

After a little bit, I heard a familiar voice.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

I looked up to see Ruby separate from a certain blonde boy.

The boy mumbled something under his breath before looking up and noticing my gaze. He must've thought I was curious about him, so he walked over to me.

"Hello." The boy offered a hand. "Im Jaune. Jaune Arc."

I raised an eyebrow before taking it. "Markus Quinn. Call me Q. Everyone does." Well, except Sykes.

Jaune tilted his head. "Markus? What color is that?"

I thought a bit for an acceptable answer. "...I'm pretty sure quincy is a color. That's close enough" Thank you, trivia night.

"Really?"

"Does it really matter?" I pointed to the stage. "He's starting."

Jaune turned around.

Ozpin started. "I'll… keep this brief."

 _Yadda yadda yadda_

Glynda took over once Ozpin stepped aside. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Jaune turned to me. "Did he seem a little… odd to you?"

"Considering he just magically appeared on stage, I'd say yes, he was a little odd."

"Really? I wasn't looking."

"I know you weren't. And no, not really." Maybe Sykes has been rubbing off on me a little bit. "Come on, let's go to the ballroom."

…

I stood outside of Jaune's little changing tent.

He came out, wearing a baby-blue full-body pajama with a rabbit mascot of some kind on the chest. He also wore bunny slippers of a similar color.

"Nice PJs." I told him.

He tested out his slippers on the floor. "Thanks. Mom says girls will love it."

"Oh, I'm sure they will." It was true.

If Jaune was hesitant before, now he was filled with confidence. "Thanks, Markus." He walked off somewhere, probably to go impress the ladies.

I thought about changing my clothes, but two problems arose. First, I don't have any pajamas with me, and second, I don't know how to remove the coat and boots.

Sykes is probably laughing at me right now.

Bastard.

I checked the area once more. I was in a corner far away from the sisters. I don't remember them moving around too much. Except for seeing Blake, of course, so I removed myself from her as well.

Once I made sure that I would not be bothered during my sleep, I laid back and allowed myself to go under.

 **-Break-**

I was awakened by a voice coming through an intercom system. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?" The voice repeated itself before going silent.

I looked up. There was no one left in the ballroom except for me. I'm surprised that Jaune didn't try to wake me.

I stood up, brushed my clothes for invisible dust, and walked towards the door.

…

When I arrived, the pads were completely empty. Ozpin and Glynda were standing closer towards the edge of the cliff, looking at their scrolls.

I sat down on the first pad. They didn't seem to notice or care.

…

Eventually, the pads filled up.

Luckily, a bush was behind one of the pads, preventing the sisters from seeing me.

Ozpin started saying something that I've heard a thousand times before. Or, twice. But whatever.

"Good. Now, take your positions."

I stayed crossed-legged on the pad. Weiss, who was next to me, looked at me strangely.

Jaune asked a question that I could barely hear. Nothing new.

The parts under me started vibrating. Soon after, I felt myself being launched forwards.

While flying, still cross-legged, I held my hand above my eyes to block the sun. I caught sight of the ruins we were supposed to head towards.

At the arc of my flight, I used my instant dashing to disappear from the sky and reappear on the ground.

How can I step on nothing but sky, you ask?

Well, the thrusters on my boots can do a quick burst of fire. The burst is so powerful that it feels like stepping on a solid surface.

I looked around and started running towards the ruins at maximum speed, without using my dashes. My legs were already sore from using it once.

I shuddered thinking about how often I had to dash during the hell that Sykes threw me into.

An ursa appeared in front of me. It stood on its hind legs and roared.

Halfway through its roar, I planted my left leg in the ground, using the spike that extends from the bottom of my boot, and swung my right leg at the bear. My foot was already quick from the momentum of running, but the thrusters only made it that much faster. I kept my foot bent, so that my toes would hit the bear first. Normally, this is not good, but the boots made sure that my feet and above would be subjected to no force at all.

Upon contact, the boots did a maximum acceleration burst again.

The ursa was sent flying back, smashing through a couple trees, dead.

I kept running.

…

Eventually, I reached the ruins.

No one had arrived at this point, so all the pieces were still there.

I knew which pieces to avoid, so I grabbed a black rook.

...

Now that I think about it, I wonder what Ozpin will do with me.

...

Well, whatever.

I ran back towards Beacon cliff, demolishing any Grimm in my way.

…

...

While running, I looked behind me.

Many trees were being toppled, all in a line. Elsewhere, a forest fire was actively burning. In the air, a nevermore was flying, probably stalking some prey.

As expected.

…

...

"You're back early." Ozpin looked at me and said.

I shrugged. "There wasn't much to do."

Ozpin chuckled and sipped from his mug. "I doubt your classmates agree."

I yawned. "Well, I'm going to go in. See ya, prof."

…

…

...

Glynda looked at Ozpin. "What are you going to do with him?"

"It'd be a shame to turn away such talent." Ozpin sipped. "Perhaps I will keep him without a partner and assign to him a team's dorm."

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "I don't think there is enough space in the dorm rooms for an extra person."

Ozpin looked at Glynda. "I'm sure he will figure something out."

Glynda sighed.

…

Apparently team creation is going to happen after dinner. Leaving me a whole lot of nothing to do.

 **-Break-**

I haven't even eaten breakfast yet, so I went to the cafeteria.

I went to the counter and grabbed a plate of pancakes.

I didn't know where people usually sit, so I just took a seat that was near to me.

…

Halfway through my meal, a couple shadows appeared behind me.

"You a first year?"

I turned around in my chair, still chewing.

I was greeted with four people.

A very tall and strongly built man.

A curiously pale girl wearing a beret. Like, paler than Sykes.

A shorter girl with rabbit ears on top of her head.

And a man with rather dark skin and red hair. But what was most apparent was his empty eyes, as if he didn't have an iris or pupil.

Is he blind?

Hmm.

I spoke up after looking them up and down. "Yeah."

I turned back around and continued with my meal.

They sat next to me. They were eating lunch.

"Don't be like that." The pale girl said. "This is team CFVY." She gestured to the three other people. "Second years. Now, shouldn't you introduce yourself to your upperclassmen?"

I shrugged. "Markus Quinn. Call me Q. Everyone does. How about you all?"

You know, I don't think anyone ever called me Q yet.

Hmm.

"I'm Coco." Coco pointed to the other girl. "She is Velvet." She shifted her arm to point at the large man. "The beefcake is Yatsuhashi." She finally pointed to the boy with red hair.

"Fox. Fox Alistair. Not blind. Probably." She must've noticed my gaze.

"Hmm." I took another bite. "My... father is blind. I think. Either way, he wears a blindfold. I wonder why."

"That's interesting." She seemed strangely interested. "How is he?"

Hmm. What is he even doing, anyways?

"He's..." I made a show of gritting my teeth and clenching my fists. "Alive… I guess?"

She seemed to notice that and did not ask further.

"Ah, that's right." She nodded. "Aren't you supposed to be in initiation right now?"

"I finished already." I really have no clue how it can take so long for people to do it.

She was surprised. "Really? Where's your partner?" She looked around.

"I didn't run into anyone." I swallowed. "Anyways, there was thirteen of us."

"Really? Poor guy."

"Hmm." I was about to take another bite, but a voice interrupted me.

"Mr. Quinn. Professor Ozpin requests your presence in his office." Glynda was standing behind me, with crossed arms. "I would recommend that you do not make him wait." She waited behind me, she probably was going to lead me to his office.

I sighed and stood up. "Okay, let's go."

We walked away.

…

"What's the prof want from me?" I asked her.

"I would not call Professor Ozpin 'prof', if I were you." She narrowed her eyes. "But, Professor Ozpin did not tell me why."

"Hmm."

We stepped into the elevator.

She pressed a button.

A silence was with us the entire ride up.

…

Eventually, we arrived.

I stepped into the office with gears lining the walls and ceiling.

Ozpin was sitting behind his desk, sipping on coffee and looking over some papers.

Glynda walked past me and to Ozpin's side, behind the desk.

I stepped up towards the desk, and looked around.

I said the thing that I had noticed first, way back when I watched RWBY with Sykes.

"Professor Ozpin, there's no chairs in here."

He looked up and raised an eyebrow. "You are going to have to stand."

"That's not very courteous to your visitors."

Ozpin did not reply, and instead sipped from his mug.

I pointed at his chair. "That chair doesn't seem to comfortable either."

Then I pointed at the gears on the wall. "Anyone ever get their fingers stuck in there?"

Then I pointed at the glass ceiling. "Doesn't it get cold in here?"

I spewed out everything that I was curious about Ozpin's office.

...

Ozpin stood up and walked over to somewhere I couldn't see.

When I saw him again, he was rolling an office chair in front of him.

"Have a seat, Mr. Quinn." He left the chair in front of his desk before walking back to his chair.

Ha.

I win.

...

I sat in the chair. "So, what's up, prof?" I could see Glynda glare at me.

Ozpin started. "When I first saw you, your coat struck me as familiar." He pulled out a scroll from under his desk. "Then, I saw this video." The video was of Sykes walking down an alleyway, with an unconscious security guard being dragged behind him, bleeding from the head. It was probably filmed with a security camera. The screen said the date was eight days ago.

A moment after Sykes left the frame, his smiling face suddenly appeared, taking up the entire screen, before the video went black.

...

"This man's coat is the exact same as yours, Markus. What is your connection with this man?"

I might of got a little nervous at his glare.

Well, it's time to act.

…

"He…" I grit my teeth. "He is my father."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at that. "Your father?"

I breathed out. "Yes… My father. I took his coat when I ran away from him."

"You… ran away from him?"

Hmm. Why _did_ I run away from him?

Aha. I know.

"Yes. He lost too much of his sanity. I ran here because he probably won't think to come here."

Ozpin sipped from his mug.

"Do you know his motives? If you haven't already known, he has been committing many criminal acts for the last week or so."

"He simply… enjoys it. Perhaps a long time ago, he was in need of money, but now..."

"Now he does it due to his insanity?" Ozpin finished for me.

"Yeah. Something like that."

Ozpin shot a glance towards Glynda, who glared at him. "So, you came to Beacon simply to hide from your father?"

"No. I also came here to get stronger and stop him. But…" I chuckled. "I'm certain that even eight years here would not change anything."

...

Ozpin raised and eyebrow. "Your father. Is he… strong?"

Sykes? Strong?

...

I let out an uncontrollable and painful laughter.

 _HehehehehhhahaHAHAHAAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAAHHAAH!_

I fell on the ground, clutching my stomach.

…

After five straight minutes of laughing, I stood up. Ozpin was looking at me strangely, and I'm sure Glynda was holding her crop a little bit tighter.

" _Whooo… whooo…_ " I wiped my tears. "...Professor Ozpin, I get the feeling that you have seen a lot of things." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Scratch that, I am _certain_ that you have seen very many things." It was true.

Ozpin didn't react to that.

"But, I can tell you with utmost certainty, that everything that you've seen, all your knowledge, is completely useless against that man." This was true too.

Sykes's strength?

 _Ha_

I'm sure he could eliminate all life on this world and then repopulate it, _himself,_ with nothing more than a snap of his fingers.

I may be acting, but his strength still scares me a little.

…

After a while of silence, Ozpin spoke up. "Do you… truly believe that?"

I looked him in the eyes. "Yes."

We stared at each other for a little while.

Ozpin suddenly spoke. "Well, teams are being assigned soon. You should head towards the amphitheater. You are dismissed."

Was it really that long?

...I blame Sykes.

 **-Break-**

"...Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." The screen changed to show their four faces next to each other. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY."

"Led by… Ruby Rose!"

Newly formed team RWBY walked off the stage to celebrate (or, half of team RWBY).

"And finally, a special case has occurred." Ozpin gestured to the screen, where a single blacked-out picture of a head was. "Due to having an odd number of new students this year, a student was able to pass the initiation without getting a partner, and therefore, a team."

I walked on stage.

Yang and Ruby suddenly stopped talking.

Oh dear.

"Markus Quinn. You will be left without a partner, but you will be assigned to team JNPR. Congratulations, young ma-"

"It's you!"

"BASTARD!"

Everyone looked over to see Yang being held back by Ruby, with her gauntlets out and ready. Blake eventually had to come and help Ruby hold her back as well.

"Yang! Not in front of all these people!" Ruby was trying to calm her sister down.

Blake and Weiss didn't know what was going on.

" _Ahem_. Well, go ahead and head to the dorms with your new team, Markus."

I hope Yang won't be too cruel.

…

I hopped off the stage and walked to team JNPR, whose members were looking at me with both curiosity and strangeness.

I bowed like Sykes. "It's nice to meet you all. My name is Markus Quinn, but you can call me Q. Everyone does." I stood back up. "And you are? I've already met your leader."

"Pyrrha Nikos." I shook her hand.

"Lie Ren." He didn't offer his hand. Understandable.

"Nora!" She grabbed onto my hand with both hands and shook them up and down, with enough strength to pick me off the ground.

"It's nice to meet you all." I grabbed my sore arms. "Well then, let's go."

…

Our walk back to the dorms wasn't interrupted.

Just when I was about to grab the doorknob though, a hand shot out from somewhere and grabbed the back of my collar.

Quickly, I was ripped from my team and slammed against the wall on the other side. Once my head stopped throbbing and I could see again, I was greeted with a _very_ angry blonde. Ruby was behind her, scythe out and at the ready. Behind Ruby, the rest of team RWBY and team JNPR stood, both unsure of what to do.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here, _scum?_ " Yang readied a fist, with her other fist holding me against the wall.

Now, by this point I've already thought about how I would react to her anger.

Sykes told me to act depressed and guilty. If I followed that, maybe I would break down in guilt at this moment.

But I decided to not follow his directions.

Instead, I will act like someone who has realized they have done wrong, but still did crime for all their life. Distant, but genuinely sorry.

'I' would be really sorry, but 'I' won't know how to express it.

Now that sounds like a character who is perfect for some character development.

…

...Damn. I'm starting to sound like Sykes.

Now that I think about it, I'm sure Sykes is listening at this exact moment.

My thoughts were interrupted by a fist finding itself deep in my gut.

 _Oof!_

"Huh, _scum?_ You gonna answer?"

I looked up.

"I am sorry for what I did, yellow girl."

She seemed surprised by this.

 _Oof!_

She punched me again.

"You think _sorry_ is going to cut it? You were going to-" She cut herself off before saying anything.

I tilted my head. "But I didn't. Nothing happened to you. You are completely fine."

 _Oof!_

She punched me again.

"Do you only know how to hit, Goldilocks?"

She punched me again. Maybe it was my imagination, but this one was weaker than the rest.

"Don't… call me that."

This is going to be painful, but it's time to drive it home.

"Then what should I call you? Victim? Delusional girl who can't tell right from wrong? What I was going to do was wrong. What I ended up doing was right. That's how things work, isn't it?"

She punched me again. This one was definitely weaker.

"...Shut up." I couldn't see her eyes, but her voice was cracking.

Did the event really affect her that much?

Oh well.

I'm in too deep to stop.

"Or, how about: weak girl who can't get over what didn't happen?"

 _CRACK_

"SHUT UP!"

She punched me in the chest this time, and it seems like my divinity was depleted. A loud crack rang out.

Hmm. I must've hit a nerve.

She was trembling, I could feel it from the arm that was grabbing me.

I slapped her arm away. It came off easily.

"I am sorry, I really am, but I don't think the problem lies with me anymore."

I walked away.

...

I was able to get maybe four steps away before I had to bend over and cough out a scary amount of blood.

I looked at my bloodstained hands.

"...Fuck."

I am going to need to call Sykes.

I continued to walk away, blood dripping down my mouth.

…

I heard something fall to the floor behind me.

Then I heard someone break down and cry.

I disappeared around the corner.

 **-Break-**

I walked to an empty balcony. It was twilight outside.

I pulled out my scroll.

 _Sykes. Come now._

I got a reply immediately.

 _k_

Did he really just say 'k'?

Suddenly, he appeared in front of me.

He spoke before I could. "I saw what you did. Frankly, I am impressed. I wanted you to go down the path of pity because I didn't think you had it in you to go down the path of dislike." He gave me a thumbs up. "But this works too, if not better. So, what did you need?"

"Heal me. Everything hurts." I could barely get out through the pain, now that the adrenaline wore off.

Sykes looked closer, and nodded. "She really did a number on you, huh?" He tossed me two bottles. I assume of divinity.

I downed the first one, and my pain faded, and eventually disappeared. I saved the other for later, because it would be suspicious if I could regenerate my 'aura' so quickly.

Not as suspicious as suddenly healing to perfection, but whatever.

Is he wearing a new coat?

He shrugged. "Well, you took my old one when you rebelled, so, yeah."

Hmm.

...

Now that I could breathe normally, I spoke to him. "You know, I scared myself there. I actually kind of enjoyed terrorising that girl. Is that what you feel whenever you terrify someone?"

Sykes tilted his head. "That's kind of concerning, actually. But I guess so."

Sykes shot his head towards the entrance of the balcony. "The cat girl is coming. Here's what you need to do." He turned back to me and talked in a quieter voice. "You need to lean on the railing or something, and stare into the sky. Act like you are reminiscing. When she asks you what you did to Yang, tell her how you always have been doing crime with your father and then left. As long as you keep to that point, I can keep doing that I'm doing."

"Oh yes, one more thing. The 'me' that I am acting as is pretty much completely insane. Just letting you know." He nodded.

He then waved. "Bye!"

Sykes disappeared.

I quickly moved to a railing and leaned over it.

It's showtime.

...

Someone stepped behind me. "What did you do to Yang?"

I didn't even have to look at her to be able to tell that she had her weapon out.

I didn't turn around.

"Did I go too far?"

She sounded angry. "Yes. She barely was able to calm down since then."

I kept on leaning. "Oh dear."

I waited for her to say something, but nothing came.

So, I continued. "You know, all I've ever known in this life of mine is crime. As long as I can remember, me and my father have always been robbing, stealing, threatening, and other similar things."

I paused. She stayed silent.

"But, he went too far. I should have noticed it earlier. If at the beginning, we were doing it for money, he started doing it for his love of bloodshed and crime." I sighed. "But the breaking point was around a week ago."

She might have reacted at that, maybe not.

"On that day, we put a plan into motion that involved Yang. He never told me what we were doing until the end. When I found out, I tried to stop him. I can't even hope to beat him in a battle, but I fought against him anyways."

I sighed again. "I lost, but was able to keep anything from happening to Yang and escaped. So, I came here. To hide from him. And to become stronger, and eventually be able to kill my father. His madness has gone on long enough."

The atmosphere seemed to freeze at that last remark.

…

...

I turned towards Blake, who was breathing heavily. "So, tell me, Blake. Was I wrong? Should I not have come here, so that Yang wouldn't break down? Should I have stayed with my father?"

"I...I..." Blake stuttered.

"Hmm?" I pressured.

She flinched. "I… don't know." She sounded sad at this. "Why… why are you telling me this?"

I started walking towards her. "I felt like you would understand." As I passed her, I put my hand on her shoulder. She didn't shy away. "Call it a hunch."

I kept walking towards the door inside. "You should come inside, you'll get a cold."

I entered the building.

…

I gave myself a pat on the back (figuratively). Acting really is fun. I can see why Sykes likes it so much.

...

Neither of us noticed the redhead listening in from behind a pillar.

…

…

...

I opened the door to team JNPR's dorm room.

Everyone was sitting on their beds and then stared at me with indecipherable feelings. Except Pyrrha.

"Where's Pyrrha?" I stretched my arms above me.

When no one spoke up, Ren talked.

"She decided to follow you, after you did what you did."

"Hmm." Was she listening?

Oh well.

"Well, I'm taking her bed. I'm injured, after all."

I was more tired than I realized. Before my head hit the pillows, I was asleep.

* * *

 _ **"Why does no one call me Q?" -Markus**_


	7. Seven - A Difficult Ability

**Finally, this headache has passed.**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

It was dark out, and the only light coming in through the windows was that from the moon.

In a hallway, someone was walking towards the dorm rooms.

...

Pyrrha was thinking.

Who was Markus's father?

What were they going to do to Yang?

Who was Markus, exactly?

For the second question, she could only think of the worst things. Hopefully, that was not the case.

She at least held the minimum amount of trust towards Markus, just from being a fellow human, after all.

But the thing that confused her the most was Markus's father. She could hear the slight undertones in his voice, especially when he mentioned his father.

Fear.

Not fear of the unknown, but a fear that he understands entirely. One that he knows he cannot do anything about.

But he said he worked with his father. Why would he scare him now? Was his father keeping a secret from him up until now?

Something was off, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

After all, Markus is a member of team JNPR, whether he likes it or not.

…

…

She opened the door.

Jaune was fumbling around with his sword, Ren was meditating, and Nora finally got back her personality, asking Jaune a million questions about his life.

Everyone was ready for bed.

Is it going to be like this the rest of the year?

Pyrrha was happy. A team that she was only a member of, and one that nobody in it cared about her achievements?

It's a dream come true.

...

...And there was Markus.

"Why is Markus sleeping in my bed?"

Ren didn't open his eyes. "He said he was injured."

 _I suppose that is true._

...

Jaune finally put his sword away and turned to Pyrrha. "Did you find anything out?"

Pyrrha tore her eyes away from Markus and nodded. "He didn't say what he did, but I got some context on his life."

Ren opened his eyes at this. "What did he say? Be quiet, Nora."

Surprisingly, Nora actually turned silent.

"He said that he used to be criminals with his father for all of his life. From what I can tell, they were good."

A snort came out from Pyrrha's bed. Everyone looked over, but Markus was asleep.

"...He said that one day his father planned to do something with Yang, that girl on the other team, and that he didn't know what is was exactly until the end."

Ren raised an eyebrow. Jaune spoke for him. "What was it?"

Pyrrha looked over. "He didn't say. But, whatever it was, it was bad enough that he rebelled against his father to stop it."

Ren frowned. "That doesn't give me good thoughts."

"I know." She continued. "He says he came to Beacon to hide from him, as well as becoming stronger, so he can…"

Pyrrha gulped. "...kill his father."

The room felt like it got colder at that statement.

Ren widened his eyes and Nora hugged him from behind.

Jaune stuttered. "K-kill?!" He looked at Markus's sleeping body. "Wh-what kind of criminal was he?!"

"I don't know, Jaune." Pyrrha thought for a moment. "But he seemed willing to tell people about it, at least. So, I'm going to trust him for now."

Jaune hesitated for a while, then nodded.

…

"Classes start early tomorrow. Let's go to bed now." Pyrrha looked around for a place to sleep after changing, among other things, in the bathroom.

"It's okay, Pyrrha! I'll sleep with Renny tonight!" Nora unleashed herself once again. "Use my bed!"

Ren said something under his breath.

Pyrrha chuckled. "I appreciate it, Nora."

Pyrrha got in bed.

...

The lights turned off.

 **-Break-**

 _The morning_

Everyone was awoken to a certain boy's angry yelling.

"What. The. HELL! How do I take this off?!"

I was in the bathroom, trying every possible way to remove both my boots and my coat.

Unlatching it. Nope.

Trying to slide my arms out. Nope.

Untying my shoes. Nope.

Sheer forcing it. Nope.

Moving my fingers and toes into various shapes. Nope.

I burst out of the bathroom.

The rest of my team was sitting up in bed and looking at me strangely.

I blinked at my team. "...Good morning team. Mind helping this teammate of yours?" I offered my arms forward. "I need to get this coat off. Boots too."

…

I was returned with stares from tired eyes. "...Gosh, thanks, team."

 _Access granted._

I looked at my coat and boots. They seemed to inflate and loosen once again. They slid right off.

"Ah, that's nice."

I walked back into the bathroom. "By the way, classes start in less than thirty minutes." I closed and locked the door, chuckling to myself on the inside when I heard their frenzied movements and panicked voices.

I am so evil.

…

…

When I exited the bathroom, I was wearing the student uniform with my coat in place of the blazer. My frying pan was in my coat, but it was in deep enough that you couldn't see the handle. Showing up to class with a weapon wouldn't be too good.

Not a bad look, I must say.

Immediately after I exited, I was shoved out of the way by a frenzied Pyrrha, who dashed into the bathroom. Nora also ran in. The door shut and I heard a scream come from inside.

I wonder what is going on in there.

"...Well, I'm going to go to class." I waved at my only male teammates. "Bye."

I walked out the door to hear… construction work? Coming from the dorm opposite of mine.

Well, it seems like Yang was able to cheer up. That's good.

I walked down the hallway, headed to class.

…

I opened the door to the classroom, which was empty.

I found a seat on the second row and took it.

Soon after, I realized I was not really alone. A portly man with white hair and a white moustache was standing behind the desk, writing something on the board. The nameplate on his desk said: Peter Port.

He noticed me. "Good morning Mr. Quinn. You're here early."

I leaned back. "Well, I woke up and had nothing to do."

He raised a white eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be interacting with your team?"

"They were asleep. And I don't think I can spill my guts if they are too busy panicking, now."

The teacher laughed at this.

He was going to say something else, but was stopped by students streaming into the classroom.

…

Eventually, the stream of students stopped, and there was no traces of either my team or team RWBY.

At 8:59, I could hear many quick footsteps coming from the hallway.

Literally seconds before the bell rang, the doors blew open and eight people flew in.

"WE MADE IT!"

…

I waved to my team and gestured to the four empty chairs beside me. They seemed to understand.

I looked at the other team, and neither Yang nor Ruby looked at me back. At least she isn't attacking me anymore.

They sat down.

The teacher began.

"Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey!"

And that was when I felt the most powerful feeling of boredom I have ever felt. It was as if someone was casting a spell on me that will make me fall asleep. And by 'someone', I mean Sykes.

My head hit the table.

 _Thok_

I fell asleep.

…

"Mr. Quinn!"

"...Mmph."

Someone shook my shoulder.

I lifted my head.

Pyrrha was beside me, looking at me in a concerning way.

"Huh?"

"Mr. Quinn." The teacher spoke harshly. "Since you appear to be quite excited about class, why don't you come down here and participate?"

In front of class was a cage with a boarbatusk inside of it. I think this was the part where Weiss would normally fight it.

"Umm… okay." I walked down in front of the class.

The teacher looked at me. "You're not going to get any battle gear, son?"

"I have everything I need already." I spread my arms.

The teacher looked at me a moment longer before breathing out his nose and turning to the cage.

He unlocked the cage and the Grimm charged at me with extreme speed.

...

Now, I can't tell you how many times I have been in this exact situation.

Back when Sykes threw me in the forest, there was a time when my legs were really sore from dashing and I was sitting down, rubbing my legs. At the time, I did not know that a boarbatusk was charging at me from behind, at maximum speed.

It was then I realized the true defensive strength of this coat of mine.

Now that I finished reminiscing, I chose the laziest option available to me to take down the Grimm.

I sat down, put my back to the charging boar, and put my hands over my head.

The teacher seemed surprised, and the students were all about to gasp.

 _CRAK!_

 _..._

A broken and almost dead boarbatusk flew over me. I never moved an inch.

When it landed again, it was disabled and stuck on the ground, whining due to the pain.

I stood up and lazily walked over. Once I arrived, I pulling out my frying pan, which got mixed reactions from the students, and smashed it right on the offending Grimm's head. It died.

...

I turned to the teacher. "Did that satisfy you, professor?"

His eyebrows were twitching. "...Is that… your weapon?"

"No, this is my frying pan."

A couple students chuckled at that.

"And why… do you carry a frying pan with you?"

I tilted my head. "So I can fry things?"

A couple more students laughed at that.

The teacher's mouth (moustache) was twitching furiously, but he calmed himself down with a loud sigh. "Go back to your se-."

He was interrupted by the bell.

He turned to the rest of class as he hid his perplexity. "It seems we are out of time! Be sure to take a look at the assigned readings, and stay vigilant! Class is dismissed."

I slid the frying pan back in my coat and started to walk out, but my team caught up to me.

Pyrrha was sporting a amused smile, Jaune was trembling, and Nora was asking if I could make pancakes.

"I can. They are very good, too." My sister liked them.

Ren seemed to be happy about that fact.

"Really!? Can you make some now!? That would be great!" Nora bombarded me with questions.

"Isn't it lunchtime now?" Was that class really four hours long? "Pancakes for lunch is a sin."

I looked at Nora. "So, no."

She looked visibly deflated at my denial. "But-"

"No buts. No pancakes either."

"Awww… Ren! You make me pancakes then! Let's go!"

Ren shot me a deadly glare before getting pulled away.

…

Pyrrha spoke up. "Is that… frying pan really your weapon?"

I looked at her like I was looking at an idiot. "No, of course not. Who would fight with a frying pan? I use it to fry things. Like I said."

"Then… what is your weapon?"

I pointed to my boots. "These boots are my weapon. My coat too."

"What do they do?"

"Well the coat is just incredibly defensive." I shot a glance at her. "As for the boots, that's my secret."

She seemed to understand. "Oh, okay."

"Speaking of which, what are your weapons?" I asked both Pyrrha and Jaune.

We talked all the way to the cafeteria.

…

Once we entered the cafeteria, I scanned the room for my other teammates. I found Nora gorging on some pancakes. Soon after, Ren came in through a door, holding a plate with literally twenty pancakes on it.

He was wearing a pink apron.

It was very cute.

…

I snapped myself out of my trance before anyone else noticed it.

...

I grabbed a tray of food and planted myself a seat away from Nora.

The rest of the team soon followed. Ren finished with his five-hundred pancake challenge, and sat down next to Nora (and me). Pyrrha and Jaune sat to the left of me.

Apparently, we arrived before team RWBY did, if them just now entering the cafeteria is anything to go by.

They grabbed their food and sat in front of our team, despite the obvious hesitance of Yang and the nervousness of Ruby.

Blake sat directly in front of me, the others sitting around her.

I kept eating. When I looked up, I saw Ruby staring at me. She quickly focused back on her food.

...

Wait a minute… is… is Ruby wearing an eye patch? How didn't I notice yet?

And why does it fit so well with her?

...Sykes?

Probably.

…

"Hey, red girl." I called out to Ruby.

All conversations stopped and a heavy atmosphere appeared from the silence. I saw Yang visibly tense up.

"Y-yes?" Ruby slowly turned to me.

I raised an eyebrow at her nervousness before pointing to my eye. "What happened to your eye?"

The air lightened a little, but Yang was still tense.

"I-it was s-shot."

My eyebrow raised further. "Shot? Didn't you have aura?"

"N-no. I-I mean, yes. I-It was like my aura turned off until it was halfway in my eye."

"Hmm." So it was Sykes.

That bastard. How dare he hurt Ruby.

Well, there is one more thing to confirm it.

"Where'd you get the eye patch?"

She bit her lip for a moment. "T-the man with white hair gave it to me."

Yang shook, but did not say anything. I'm guessing she did not know this.

Weiss blinked.

Well, time to act it up.

 _COUGH COUGH COUGH_

I fell from my chair, still coughing.

I eventually stood up, using my chair as support. Everyone at the table was looking at me questioningly.

I pointed a shaky finger at her while consciously putting as much hatred as possible in my voice.

"You... saw my father?"

Everyone froze from whatever they were doing. Yang scowled.

Ruby shook her hands in front of her. "N-no! I saw him before I was s-shot, then he left a gift for me in the hospital."

"I… see." I breathed out heavily and sat back down, dragging my fingers through my hair.. "That explains everything."

This time Ruby asked me. "W-what?"

I looked at Ruby. "Well, red girl, I can tell you that my father made you get shot in the eye simply because he thought you would look cute in that eye patch."

Even if Sykes wasn't acting insane, I'm sure he would do something like that anyways.

That made Ruby and everyone else speechless.

"Yeah. He's like that." I leaned across the table to get a better look a Ruby. "I've gotta say, though, he does have a point there." Ruby backed away slowly.

My scrutiny was interrupted by Yang snarling at me.

"Stay away from Ruby, scum."

I shrugged and sat back down. She didn't put as much emotion into her name for me this time. I guess our relationship is improving. Somehow.

The atmosphere was still tense.

Speaking of Sykes, I still have to drink that second bottle of divinity, don't I? The tiny bit of extra I had from the first bottle was depleted by the boarbatusk.

I pulled it out of my coat and downed it in one gulp. My 'aura' flared for a moment, visible to all, before dying down.

"Ahhh… " I relaxed in my chair. Did it always feel this good?

Blake was snapped out of her silence. "What was that?"

I thought of a believable lie. "That… was a secret concoction that my father gave to me. No clue where he got it from. That was my last bottle." All of that was true, actually.

She looked at me oddly before finally focusing back at her book.

That was able to defuse the tense atmosphere.

...

Weiss seemed to notice how out of the loop she was regarding my father. She looked around at the two teams for any clarification. When she got none, she turned to me.

"Just what kind of guy is this father of yours?" She sounded irritated.

"Hmm." I tilted my head. What exactly do I know about Sykes's cover? "...Well, he can be described in three words: Strong. Insane. Strong." I nodded my head. "Yes, that's it. Perhaps you should ask your oppositely-colored friend." I pointed at Blake.

I don't think Blake liked being called that, judging by the twitching of her bow and the light scowl that graced her features.

Weiss looked at me with a blank expression after glancing at Blake. "You said strong twice."

"I felt the need to emphasize it."

She was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the bell. So, she 'hmph'ed at me.

I looked down at my plate. "Thanks, all, I was able to eat maybe two entire bites of food on this incredibly productive lunch period."

I was ignored.

…

…

…

I was sitting in class with my team next to me and team RWBY under us. Yang would look back and make sure I wasn't doing anything suspicious every so often.

The class was on history. Mostly about the Great War that was about eighty years ago.

Actually hearing the entire thing, unlike the show where it is all cut to less than five minutes, I found out it was actually pretty interesting.

Maybe everyone else already knew all this. That might be why the were so uninterested.

When class was over, dinner was served in the cafeteria. This time, I was able to eat a healthy amount of food.

Me and my team returned to our dorm.

I hear tomorrow will be combat class. That should be fun.

I fell asleep on the floor.

 **-Break-**

 _A warehouse_

…

"Hey, boss, you ever try stand up?"

Roman looked at his most valuable underling, who was still smiling in his creepy way. "No, I haven't."

Sykes shrugged. "I think you'd be good at it."

Roman actually imagined himself doing stand up comedy for a moment.

He looked back at the television. "You have a point there."

An explosion sounded out from the TV.

Roman and Sykes both pumped their fists in the air.

...

The movie ended soon after.

"Hey, numbnut. You got any more movies like that one? I liked it." Roman told Sykes.

Sykes laughed. "Of course!" He took out three movies from his coat. "Now, we can watch the prequels."

Roman was confused. "Aren't you supposed to watch the prequels first?"

Sykes laughed again. "No, I didn't want to see the prequels at all!"

Roman was even more confused. "Why?"

Sykes tilted his head for a moment.

"You'll see, boss." He placed the first disk in the player. "You'll see."

…

Roman saw.

 **-Break-**

When I conscious enough to feel my surroundings again, I realized was not on the floor of the dorm. Instead, I was sitting up on a chair and leaning on a counter.

I lifted my head and opened my eyes.

I looked around before putting my head back in my arms and cursing.

Skye.

Why am I here?

Somewhere, a door creaked open and some footsteps got nearer.

 _Tak tak_

I didn't even need to lift my head.

Sykes.

Who else could it be?

I asked him, mumbling in my arms. "Did I die?"

"No, of course not." He spoke.

Then why am I here?

"I brought you here in your dreams to teach you stuff."

I finally lifted my head. "What?"

He checked to make sure I was listening before he started. "I am going to teach you some divine abilities. Also, what you can and can't do, stuff like that."

"I can use my divine abilities?" I thought I had to keep that a secret.

"Yeah, you can play it off as your semblance. Coincidentally, that being your semblance can be a very important plot point, one that I almost overlooked."

I was going to ask more, but he interrupted me.

"Here's how you use it." He pointed at me. "You need to picture what exactly you want in your mind. Then, you need to say a chant either in your mind or out loud. You can make it up."

Aren't I still limited to things that have to do with my divine ability?

"Yes, there is that limit on your specific ability," Sykes nodded. "but there are a few abilities that all beings that have any divine power at all have access to. I will tell you about those now." He put three fingers up.

"They are: solidify, foresight, and melding. These are the three simplest abilities. Their chant is little more than yelling out their name in your head."

"Remember those magic circles?"

Yeah.

"One of the things you can do is solidify them. Before you do that, you can move them to any point and rotation, even floating in the air. Once you solidify it though, you can't move it anymore. Use it like a shield."

"Next, foresight. This will let you see a tiny bit of the future via an excerpt of The Book of Fate." He pulled the old book out from under the counter and laid it on top. "Normally, you would only be able to see the future on things you have authority over, such as that pan of yours." Sykes winked at me. "But I'll give you some special permission to view it on most everything."

Thanks.

"Finally, melding. This will mold your magic circle into whatever shape you want. It's different from summoning because it will only last as long as you supply it divine energy, and it is breakable. Very breakable."

Sykes stopped talking.

Is that it?

"That's it. You should go outside and try it now." He pointed at the exit to the bar. "Or, you can stay here and drink until you wake up." He shrugged.

I stood up and walked to the door.

…

I've never seen what was outside the bar before.

I stood at the end of the street and looked down into the abyss. "What's down there?"

Sykes replied. "Who knows."

I thought you lived here.

"I'm not suicidal."

Could anything really kill you, though?

"Probably not, but I don't even have the slightest clue of what is down there. There are very few things that I know absolutely nothing about."

Hmm.

…

I stood in the middle of the street, and Sykes stood slightly further down from me and took out a small handgun.

"Just imagine a magic circle in front of you and then say 'solidify' in your mind. I'm going to shoot you once you do." He waved the handgun.

So I did.

...

I imagined a red circle with all sorts of symbols on it, protecting me from anything that will come from the direction of Sykes.

A circle appeared in front of me, but it looked translucent.

 _Solidify._

The circle flashed brightly for a moment before fading into a completely opaque version of itself.

Sykes nodded and brought up his gun.

 _Blam blam blam_

A couple cracks appeared on the circle, but if I focused on it, it seemed to repair itself at the cost of my 'aura'. Very little, but noticeable.

Sykes shot more and more.

The circle cracked more and more before shattering into nothingness.

Sykes nodded. "Very good. You learn quickly." He put away the gun.

"Now, picture another circle and imagine it melting and molding into whatever. Try a sword."

I did so.

A magic circle appeared in front of me again. I imagined it turning into a simple iron sword.

The circle quickly bent and twisted until there was a small sword floating in front of me. It still was made of whatever the magic circle was made of, red light.

I reached for it and grabbed it by the handle. It was light. Very light. I swung it around randomly before trying to strike a solidified circle I just summoned.

It broke instantly.

I stopped focusing on the solidified circle and it faded away.

Sykes clapped. "Very good, very good. You can use that as a surprise attack if you make multiple spears on the ground or something." He stopped. "Now, foresight pretty much is self-explanatory. But since it is an excerpt from The Book of Fate, it won't work on Fatebreakers."

"If it is an excerpt, do I have to read it?"

Sykes shook his head. "No, the book is a spiritual object. You will just immediately 'understand' what will happen."

"Just focus on whatever, then say foresight in your head. It will give you an idea what it will do or what will happen to it for the next… half a second? Something really short like that."

He raised a finger in the air. "None of these abilities are too taxing, but enough of it and your 'aura' will be used up. Be careful. I can supply you with bottles whenever you need it. Just text me."

Is that it?

"Yes. That is all. You should be waking up soon." Sykes waved at me. "Bye!"

I blacked out.

* * *

 **Roman would be a very good stand up comedian, though.**


	8. Eight - A Difficult Spar

**I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly. I was back in the dorms.

I stood up and stretched my arms above me. Many popping noises came from my joints. Maybe sleeping on the floor was not a good idea.

I peeked at the clock. 6 AM.

Highschool way back then made me into an early waker.

I went into the bathroom for my morning rituals.

Now that I thought about it, I haven't ever cleaned myself in any way since I have arrived here.

Maybe I should take a shower. I touched myself under the armpits and smelt my hand.

...

Scratch that, I _need_ to take a shower.

I locked the door before taking off my clothes and looking at myself in the mirror.

There was a full-body mirror leaning on the wall, with labeled tick marks on the edges so you can get a general idea of your height. It wasn't there yesterday.

Six foot four. Not bad.

I looked at my body. Visible, but lean muscles were under my skin, increasing in size from my waist down.

… A six pack? When did I get that?

Wait, no. I've always had it.

...Right?

I brushed a hand through my hair. Dark blue and wild, like Sykes's, though not as long.

Dark blue? Did I have dark blue hair before?

Was dark blue hair even a thing on Earth?

It had to be, right?

I looked right back into my mirror self's eyes.

...Purple?

Is… is that me?

Yes. Of course it is.

I felt the impending headache and decided to wait until I saw Sykes to ask him about it.

I stepped into the shower and turned the knob.

...

My shoulders were able to relax under the assault of hot water.

…

I finished up drying myself and looked at the time. 6:30.

That was probably the shortest shower I've ever taken.

I walked to the sink. Four toothbrushes were in a holder, each a different color.

Mine wasn't there. Not that I brought one or even own one.

It's time to experiment with my new abilities. Melding, to be specific.

I summoned a magic circle. A small one, it could fit in the palm of your hand. I focused on molding it into a toothbrush.

It twisted and turned until it was vaguely shaped like a stick with a region of bristles at the top.

Now, for the actual experiment. I grabbed the primitive toothbrush and touched the bristles.

It was soft.

Experiment #1 concluded.

It seems I can give it any physical properties that I wish. That is interesting.

I grabbed someone's toothpaste and started brushing.

…

Finally done freshening up, I threw on my clothes and stepped out of the bathroom, refreshed and energized.

I looked at the time. Past eight.

Really? Was I that long?

...

I looked at my sleeping teammates.

Shameful.

It's less than an hour until class, and they are still asleep.

It seems I will need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for my team.

I pulled out my frying pan and grabbed the nearest solid object I could find. A hammer.

Not a weapon hammer, a normal construction hammer.

Why was that here?

...

Whatever.

With my pan in my right hand and the hammer in my left, I began the orchestra reminiscent of hell.

…

Ren woke up normally. He must be used to the noise.

Nora shot up with an almost audible snap. She already was going at 100.

Pyrrha pulled herself into her bed a little (read: a lot) more.

Jaune was crying.

...

I walked over to Pyrrha's bed.

"WAKE UP CHAMPION! _CLANG!_ IT'S A NEW DAY! _CLANG!_ NO SLEEPERS ON _MY_ TEAM! _CLANG!_ IT'S TOO EARLY TO SLEEP! _CLANG!_ WHAT?! TEN HOURS WASN'T ENOUGH?! _CLANG!_ "

"ALRIGHT!" Pyrrha shot up with an absolutely overt rage. She waved an arm at me and my pan was seemingly ripped out of my hand by an invisible force.

The pan flew back at speeds approaching mach 2000 and slammed right into my face.

" _AGH!"_

But the pan did not stop there. It took advantage of its momentum to fire itself towards the window, smashing it and escaping the area.

I slammed against the wall, making a small depression in it.

Even before I could see again, I had shot up and dashed to the window, looking out of it.

Now, it's true that I only had the pan for little more than a week. But, I can't tell you how many times it has saved my life when Sykes abandoned me in the forest. I quickly fell in love with it.

I saw my dear pan flying somewhere into the Emerald Forest.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

I turned towards Pyrrha at near relativistic speeds and pointed my finger at her, with it barely being five inches from her face. She was smiling sheepishly at me.

"PYRRHA 'PAN HATER' NIKOS! YOU BETTER FIND A WAY TO GET MY PAN BACK IN MY HANDS WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE GODDAMN SECONDS OR I WILL BE FRYING MY EGGS ON YOUR BALD HEAD THIS MORNING!"

That threat seemed to make Pyrrha shiver. "S-sorry?"

She didn't even pretend to make an attempt to get out of bed.

"GODDAMNIT!" I saw I wasn't going to be getting any help from my team, so I had to do it myself.

I dove out the window.

While falling, I screamed back towards the window. "DIVINE RETRIBUTION IS COMING, PYRRHA! WATCH YOUR BACK!"

I hit the ground.

 **-Break-**

" _KAGH!"_

Markus's pained yell came in through the window.

 _Slam!_

The dorm room's door was slammed open by an irritated girl with white hair, the rest of her team standing off behind her, curiously looking in.

"What on Remnant is making that obnoxious racket?!"

Weiss was greeted with Nora looking out of a broken window, holding her fist up and yelling out encouragements. Ren was looking at her.

Pyrrha was looking mortified on her bed, and Jaune was trembling with his hands on his mouth, hunched over on his bed.

After a while, Jaune spoke up. "P-Pyrrha threw Markus's frying p-pan out the window."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "So?!"

Jaune was having trouble holding in his giggles. "S-so he threatened to s-shave all of Pyrrha's hair and f-fry eggs on her h-head if she didn't get him his pan back."

...

Jaune took a couple deep breaths before continuing. "When Pyrrha didn't do anything, he got impatient and d-dove out the window after his pan." Jaune snorted at least twice while talking.

Weiss's eyes widened from the sheer absurdity of that statement. Her teammates had mixed reactions. Yang even cracked a small smile.

Weiss still wasn't satisfied. "But _why?_ " She directed at Pyrrha.

When she didn't reply, Ren spoke for her. "He tried to wake her up, but I don't think Pyrrha is a morning person."

...

Weiss nodded (eventually), but seemed to notice something else.

 _Wait, what time is it?_

She looked at the clock.

"Oh my god, it's eight fifteen!" She rushed back to her room, teammates in tow.

Team JNPR heard that was well, and also scrambled to get ready.

 **-Break-**

...

"Very nice, Mr. Arc, Mr. Winchester." Glynda turned to the class. "Remember, students, to check your aura levels during a battle, and to respond appropriately once you do."

Jaune and Cardin walked back to their seats.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune concerningly.

"Next up, we have…" Glynda tapped on her scroll. "Miss Nikos and…" She looked up. "Mr. Quinn."

Pyrrha, who had stood up, awkwardly smiled. "Umm… Markus is absent today."

"Absent? How is that possible?"

"Well… I threw his weapon out the window and he dove after it. He is probably in the Emerald Forest right now."

...

Glynda's eyebrows twitched. "I… see." She looked back at her tablet. "Well then. In place of Mr. Quinn, let's have…"

 _Slam!_

Everyone looked over at the doors to see a man holding a frying pan, with his foot forward. He probably kicked open the door.

He looked like hell. There was dirt all over his body and he was soaked, as if he went for a swim.

It looked like there was a small twig with a leaf on it on his hair.

Markus was panting furiously. His eyes were filled with a primal rage that he was barely able to hold back.

"How fortunate, Mr. Quinn, you made it just in time for your match." Glynda told him.

Markus's eyes shot towards the teacher. "With… _pant..._ who?"

"With miss Nikos." The screens turned on to show both Markus's and Pyrrha's faces, a green bar under them. "Do you accept?"

Markus smiled quite a bit like his father at Pyrrha. "I'd _love_ to!" He seemed to be completely reenergized.

Pyrrha shivered a little.

…

Pyrrha and Markus were standing away from each other in the arena.

The crowd was very interested in this battle. The four time champion versus a man with unknown battle strength?

They were curious about Markus's strength. No one has seen him fight.

"Mr. Quinn. Have you unlocked your semblance?" The teacher asked.

"Yeah." Markus replied.

Glynda nodded. "Very well. Semblances are allowed for this battle. Do take care."

Markus got into a runner's starting stance, his hands on the ground.

Pyrrha gripped Miló a little tighter and got into a stance.

…

"Begin!"

Suddenly, Markus was in front of Pyrrha, with his left foot planted on the ground and his right foot flying towards her at incredible speeds.

 _Fast!_

Pyrrha was barely able to jump back in time, using her semblance to give an extra push.

But, Markus did not stop. He slammed his right foot on the ground and used the spinning momentum from the roundhouse kick to throw his left foot back at her.

This one hit her right in the stomach.

Pyrrha was pushed back.

At this point, only about two seconds have passed since the beginning of the fight.

The crowd was silent. Markus was really fast!

Ruby seemed excited by the speed she was seeing.

Markus disappeared again. He reappeared behind Pyrrha, preparing an axe kick from behind.

This time, Pyrrha was prepared. She turned quickly and put her shield in front of her.

 _CLANG!_

The kick landed on the shield, and Pyrrha buckled a little, but kept her balance.

She pushed her shield up to knock Markus off balance and jabbed Miló towards him.

Markus put his arms up in an attempt to block, but Pyrrha was much too skilled to allow her strikes to be stopped by such a clumsy block.

Miló weaved around his arms and struck him right in the throat.

Markus stumbled back, grabbing his throat.

 _Hack! Hack!_

Pyrrha was going to charge in and continue her assault, but Markus waved his arm towards her and a strange red circle with many symbols on it appeared in front of her, preventing her any movement forward.

 _Semblance?_

In the crowd, Weiss gasped. "G-glyphs? Why does he have that?"

Behind Pyrrha, another magic circle appeared and molded itself into a wall with spikes on it.

Magic circles surrounded and molded around Pyrrha, creating a small room that could only fit one person. Inside the room was Pyrrha with spiked walls on all sides.

Pyrrha's vision was blocked and no one out could see inside, either.

She didn't know what to do. The spikes looked sharp and she didn't know how strong the walls were, so she put her shield up and turned in circles, waiting for a sound or movement.

Markus stood up and pulled out his frying pan. He walked over to the glowing red room and swung the pan as hard as he could towards it.

Markus yelled. "DIVINE RETRIBUTION!"

The wall that was in the way shattered and caught Pyrrha by surprise. The pan slammed against her back, throwing her towards the spikes on the other side.

Breaking through a spiked wall with her face was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. Even if she had now realized it was incredibly fragile, her instincts told her to flinch and cover her face.

She fell out the other side of the room and covered her face with her hands as she fell to the ground.

It looked like she was mostly unharmed.

Markus waved his hand towards Pyrrha after dispelling the leftover walls and dashing away. Under Pyrrha, a very large magic circle appeared on the floor. He tossed his pan on the ground just in case Pyrrha tried anything.

Very quickly, the circle melded into a field of spikes that extended all the way to Markus. Pyrrha was now laying on a massive bed of spikes.

Markus seemed to think about something. He said something under his breath and suddenly, the brightly shining field of spikes glowed brighter and then dimmed into an opaque dark red.

Markus nodded.

 _So I can solidify melded objects._

 _Experiment #2 concluded._

He hopped onto the field. The spikes were close enough together that he could walk on them with no problem.

But to Pyrrha, with her heels, these spikes were a death trap.

Pyrrha made the best of her resources and stood on her shield to avoid the spikes.

She looked over to where Markus was walking towards her. He smiled and disappeared.

Not good. Here, she is at a bad disadvantage.

She felt a slight breeze behind her, so she turned to try to parry whatever was coming.

She was greeted with a heel moving towards her face. She attempted to stop the leg at the calf, but suddenly a bright flash came from the heel and she was blinded.

She kept her blade where it would have cut the calf, even in her blindness, but nothing came.

Unbeknownst to her, the flash was actually the thrusters on his boots activating, causing his kick to switch directions entirely and was now heading towards her in an undefended spot.

It hit her in the side, throwing her off her shield and making her fall on the reinforced spikes. Pyrrha let out a pained gasp.

Before Markus could continue, a loud horn blared out from somewhere.

"Enough!" Glynda yelled out.

Markus looked at the aura bars.

Pyrrha's was in the yellow, while his was red and decreasing at a steady rate.

He thought for a moment and then realized.

 _Solidifying and molding that much area must take a lot of energy to do._

He shrugged and dispelled the spikes. Pyrrha fell from three feet off the floor; where the spikes used to support her.

...

"I can see you are a very… diverse fighter, Mr. Quinn. However, you are lacking on your defense. Keep that in mind." Glynda told him.

He nodded.

She then looked at Pyrrha, who was standing up. "And Miss Nikos. You need to work on how you fight in unusual environments. An enemy that can control the environment is a very dangerous one, indeed."

Pyrrha nodded and walked back to her seat with Markus behind her.

...

Once they sat, Weiss, who was in front of them, yelled at Markus.

"What was that?!"

Markus looked at her. "What was what, white girl?"

She probably didn't like being called that. "Your semblance! Why are they so similar to glyphs?!"

Markus tilted his head. "Dunno."

Weiss started sputtering incomprehensibly, so Markus ignored her and turned to Pyrrha.

"I'm surprised you could react to my kick. That's pretty good."

Pyrrha was used to praise. "Thanks. I'm sure you would've won if you had more time."

Markus, however, was not. "Me too. I was going to stomp you into the spikes until you were out."

Pyrrha smiled nervously.

 _That sounds incredibly painful._

…

Glynda continued. "We have time for one more spar…"

 **-Break-**

 _In the cafeteria_

Team RWBY and team JNPR (plus me) were sitting across from each other, eating happily.

Ruby seemed to have lost her untrust of me and was was asking a million questions about my speed.

Yang didn't stop her.

What is going on?

Is it really that easy to improve relationships?

Or did Blake tell Yang what I said that time?

Oh well. My legs are still sore as hell.

…

I sighed. "Yes, red girl, it's just a simple technique to moving your legs. Anyone can do it. Theoretically."

"Can you teach me?!" She made strange eyes at me. "Pleeeeeeeease?"

"No." I made something up. "The first time I did it, I broke every bone in both of my legs. It took five years to be able to do it without any injury."

That seemed to get her to stop. But she then asked a different question.

"What's your semblance? Tell me, pleeeease?" She made those odd eyes again.

I shrugged. "Sure." That got the attention from the rest of the students in the two teams.

I held my hand up like I was holding a ball. A magic circle appeared in above of it.

"It lets me summon these circles. I can choose to make them ethereal," I put a finger through it. "or solid. And then, I can shape them how I want." The circle twisted and bent into a fork once I removed my finger.

I ate using my new utensil. "It's pretty useful."

"What was the dark red thing you did to it?" Blake asked. She really is curious.

"Hardening. If I didn't do that, Pyrrha would have smashed right through the spikes." Said process happened to my fork.

"But, it uses aura just to maintain the circle. Hardening uses even more." I dispelled the magical fork and grabbed the metal one. "The spikes took a lot. Plus, I was already low from my adventure in the forest." I glanced towards Pyrrha.

"I didn't even know there was a lake in Emerald Forest." There was. The pan was at the bottom of it.

I continued eating, ignoring the odd looks my fellow students were giving me.

…

I was walking to class before suddenly, it hit me like a lightning bolt.

Absolutely _nothing_ happens in the story for the next four months. Except for Jaune stuff, but who cares about Jaune.

In other words, I have nothing to do for the next four months.

I felt an unfamiliar feeling grow within me.

Despair.

When I was with with Sykes, there is nothing to despair about. If he wanted to, I'm sure he could send me months into the future. Other than that, things are always interesting with him.

But he's not here.

I fell onto my knees and grabbed my head.

" _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

My team looked at me, worried.

...

Pyrrha spoke. "What's wrong?"

I sniffed and wiped a tear. "I just ... _hic…_ realized that I will be stuck ... _hic…_ in school for the next four months."

The worry on their faces instantly turned to stupefaction.

...

Jaune snorted into his hand. "Are… you bipolar or something?"

I sniffed. "... I'm not bipolar."

Then I realized something else.

 _Why am I so much like Sykes!?_

…

 _NO!_

I stood up. "Okay, let's go." I walked forwards, ignoring whether my teammates were following or not.

 **-Break-**

 _Later_

"Boss, for the last three months you have been doing nothing but watching movies and eating potato chips."

Roman looked over. He looked a little fatter than he was before. "So what? With all the Dust you got I don't even need to do anything anymore." He shrugged. "I'm sure the bitch will make me do something else very soon, anyways. There isn't very much Dust left to take in Vale, you know."

He continued. "Besides, she has been doubting my abilities. I need to steal my own dust, tomorrow."

...

Sykes changed the subject. "When is that girl of yours coming back?"

Roman thought. "No clue. She's somewhere in Vacuo. And you know how it is." Roman sighed. "If you get lost in Vacuo, you get lost forever."

Sykes laughed. "Well, boss, I need to get something done." He stood up and waved. "See ya!"

Roman was going to say something, but Sykes disappeared. So, he sighed and focused back on the movie.

…

Sykes reappeared in a dorm. Class was in session, so there was nobody with him.

He took out his scroll and sent a text.

 _Come to your dorm. Now._

…

Markus was sleeping in class, before he shot up.

He took out his scroll and checked the message. He frowned.

 _Can't it wait?_

He got a reply immediately.

 _No._

He scowled even more.

 _Then teleport me._ He was about to send, but...

"Mr. Quinn! Does my class bore you?" Professor Port was using his teacher voice.

Markus looked up from his scroll.

"Sorry prof! Im skipping class!" He smiled and tapped on his scroll.

Markus disappeared, leaving behind a perplexed class.

…

Markus was in the JNPR dorm room with Sykes.

"What is it this time?" Marlus glared at him. "I'm going to get detention, thanks to you."

Sykes raised a covered eyebrow. "I need to tell you something important."

Markus waited.

And waited.

…

"Well!? What is it?!"

Sykes smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

Before Markus could go ham on his father, Sykes continued.

"I forgot to tell you this earlier, but the black girl is going to reveal her heritage tomorrow."

"You need to interfere with Roman's dust robbery. Do it with her, do it without, whatever. Bring your team, don't, do whatever. You just need to interfere in some way." He tossed a prescription bottle at me.

I read the label on the bottle.

 _ABRACADRAM 0.5 MG TABLETS_

…Abracadabram? Really?

"What is this?"

"A gift. It will turn you into a faunus when you take it and back when you take it again. I wouldn't give it to anyone else though, that is probably the easiest way possible for someone to break fate." Sykes was probably wiggling his eyebrows. "Don't let me stop you though, it will only make things more interesting."

Why, though?

"No reason. It won't affect the main plot too much other than a small gag, or, if you use it right, it may become an important subplot. But, I leave it up to you."

He made a gesture of him throwing something in his mouth. "Just think of some animal appendage when you swallow it. Even something like a giraffe neck would work. ...I wouldn't do that, though."

I wouldn't either.

"Also, remember that cafe that we always happen to enter?"

Yeah.

"That is where she and the monkey boy will meet. Do whatever with that information." He shrugged. "By the way, if someone asks why you are interfering in the robbery, tell them you are there because you knew your father (me) would be there. Don't answer on how you knew that."

You'll be there?

Sykes nodded. "Yes. I plan on 'introducing'," He made air quotes, "myself to them."

...

"I feel bad for them." I really do.

Sykes laughed. "Well, that's all I have for you. Now then, how do you want to return to class?"

…

...

How..?

 **-Break-**

Professor Port's Grimm study class was still going on. The professor was able to get back to work, and all was well once again.

"When the Nevermore swooped down to attack, I, in all my dashing glory, jumped right back towards it! Then-" His story was interrupted by a loud noise.

 _SLAM!_

The doors to the classroom blew open and slammed into the wall. Somehow, they stayed on their hinges. An object flew in, it seems the object is what opened the doors.

Everyone looked over and saw the object that slammed into the doors. It slid on the floor for a couple meters before eventually stopping.

…

Markus stood up. "That hurt."

He was bleeding from the head. He waved to the professor. "Hey prof. I'm back." He took out the Abracadram. "Just needed to pick up this prescription."

Markus walked back to his seat, either not noticing or simply ignoring the completely shell shocked class. He sat down next to Pyrrha.

 _Thud_

...And immediately fell asleep.

…

…

"...What?" Professor Port finally spoke up.

…

 **-Break-**

 _Team JNPR's dorm room_

I was in the bathroom, there was a magic circle in front of me.

I was trying to see if I could summon something, without Sykes. As for what, I really need some pajamas.

If branded merchandising is what I think it is, creating shirts and other clothes should really be no issue at all.

I focused on the magic circle and said a random chant.

 _By the gods above and the demons beneath, I request for a shirt that shall stay by my bedside for a… long time._

 _If it says JNPR on it, that would be nice too._

It seemed to have worked. The magic circle was now spinning rapidly and increasing in brightness sharply. I'm sure my teammates noticed the strange phenomenon from under the door.

...

The magic circle faded, leaving a small brightly colored red portal. I reached my hand in and grabbed the object after rooting around for a little. It felt like cloth.

Experiment #3 concluded.

So I can ask for specific things when summoning.

...

When the portal finally twisted itself into the shape of a shirt, and it's light dulled until I was holding a black shirt in my hand.

I lifted up the shirt so that it would unfold, and I saw what was on the front of it.

It was a black t-shirt with four vertical rectangles on the front. In the rectangles were one silhouette each, with nothing but the figure's hair colored. Behind each silhouette was an emblem, one for each. These were also colored.

Under each rectangle was a white letter in the show's font.

J, N, P, and… R.

Who would've guessed.

It's the Official Team™ JNPR™ t-shirt.

Great. Not sarcastically, that is. This shirt will work great as pajamas.

I took off my coat and the upper part of my uniform to put this on. It was perfect for sleeping; a little loose.

Finally concluding my pre-bedtime actions, I kicked open the bathroom door to leave.

"Great news, team!" They stopped whatever they were doing and looked over at me.

"I finished my Official Team™ JNPR™ t-shirt!"

The room became even more silent.

...

I looked down and pointed at the figures on my shirt. "Look! J… N… P… and R!"

I looked back up at my team. "Isn't it great, t-" I stopped myself when I saw their expressions.

So, I redirected my sentence to the only one with a positive one. "Nora?!"

She replied instantly. "It's great, Marky!"

...Marky?

She hopped over to me. "When can I get one!?"

Ignoring my new name, I hopped with her. "Soon, Nora! Now that I got the formula down, I can make these like crazy!"

I started preaching to the ceiling. "Then, one day, the entire world will know of this great team! HAHAHAHAHA!"

I started dancing with Nora. "We'll be rich, Nora! Rich!

…

Jaune was laughing and Pyrrha was dumbstruck.

I saw Ren making very subtle movements towards his bedside.

I pointed at him. "Nora! Ren wants to destroy our dream! Stop him!" Ren sped up substantially.

Nora turned and charged.

On the way, she grabbed her hammer. Ren was able to grab one of his pistols, before he had to dodge away from the hammer coming down on his bed. He sped towards me.

"I'm ending this now, Markus!" He prepared to slash my shirt in two.

"Wh-wait!" My heart skipped a beat.

...

Besides the gag, him slashing me would not be good for my health. My 'aura' was depleted ever since Sykes literally threw me into my class. I haven't refilled it since then.

If he cuts me, I will bleed.

Thankfully, he had to duck to avoid Nora's hammer, which was coming from behind his head. I was relieved of my fear.

...

My relief was short lived, though.

Because, there was now a hammer speeding towards my face, due to the the original target being removed from its sights.

Not good.

 _CRAK!_

I was thrown backwards towards the door.

I felt like I broke through it.

I was still flying, though. Then, I hit another door. I broke through this one too.

I was laying on the ground, most of my senses stopped by pain.

Then, I realized where I currently was.

Oh dear.

Blood overtook my vision, before darkness did.

* * *

 **Things are actually starting. I can't wait.**


	9. Nine - A Difficult Battle

**I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Team RWBY were all looking at the broken and bleeding body laying on their floor. No one has made a sound yet.

Nora from the other dorm peeked around the corner. "M-Marky? You okay?" Then, she saw the pool of blood stemming from his head. "MARKUS!" She gasped before running over to RWBY's dorm room. The rest of team JNPR followed.

Pyrrha stuttered upon seeing all the blood. "W-why didn't his aura stop it?"

No one answered that question, though.

Jaune immediately got right down to business despite his trembling and started to prop Markus on his shoulder. "Ren, help me out." Ren nodded and did so.

They walked out, carrying Markus's bleeding body in between them. The rest of their team followed them. And, after a moment, most of team RWBY came as well.

Except Yang.

She was trembling. When Markus flew in, he essentially landed right in her lap. She didn't like his look. An completely sunken nose, depressed forehead, and a jaw hanging off in an improper way? Bleeding from most holes?

It was probably the most horrible thing she has ever seen.

But that was not the worst part.

The worst part was that she didn't know how to feel.

Worried? Concerned? Apathetic? Glad? Happy?

She felt all these emotions at once, and it scared her. She didn't want to be happy. She didn't want to be concerned, either. She didn't even want to be apathetic. She wanted to care, but she didn't know how to.

The fact that a part of her was happy scared her. The fact that another part wanted to worry about him angered her. And the last part that wanted her to ignore him made her feel like a monster.

...

She made a decision.

…

Yang stood up and left the dorm.

 **-Break-**

Teams JNPR and RWBY were sitting in a waiting room somewhere in Beacon Academy's incredibly large medical wing.

Nora was almost crying and the rest of team JNPR were consoling her. Ruby was also helping them. Weiss was probably fuming inside, and Blake adopted a thoughtful expression.

Yang was sitting with her face in her hands, not moving an inch.

…

Eventually, a nurse came out of the door.

Pyrrha paused her comforting words to look up at the nurse. "How… how is he?"

The nurse looked at her. "He was hurt really bad. If you were any later in bringing him here, he would have died."

That got the room silent.

"Currently, he is in a coma. And he is fortunate to only be in one. With a skull fracture like that, he is lucky no bones pierced his brain." The nurse explained. "He is very fragile, I'm surprised he made into Beacon in without even awakening his aura."

"What?!" Pyrrha was confused. "When I fought him, he took hits like he had aura! And, he used a semblance! It's impossible that he doesn't have aura!"

The nurse shrugged. "I'm not sure the specifics, but he showed no response from our aura boosting equipment. We tried to awaken it ourselves, but whenever we would start the chant, he would go into seizures."

The nurse sighed. "And that was the _good_ news. His brain activity is going down. Slowly, but steadily. We did some tests, and…" The nurse bit her lip. "If he doesn't wake up in the next week, he won't wake up at all."

That struck like thunder in the ears of the room's occupants. Nora started crying.

The nurse continued. "At this point, the best chance to wake him at the moment is to stimulate him somehow to get his brain back in order. He is in room 318. It's outside of visiting hours, but…" The nurse turned around to leave. "I'm sure he would've wanted to see you."

The nurse left.

…

Eight people waited outside a door with the number 318 on it.

Jaune twisted the doorknob and pushed open the door. Inside was a small room with a medical bed in the middle. On the bed was a figure. The figure was laying down with all sorts of medical machinery connected to him.

Once the lights were turned on, they noticed that the figure's head was completely wrapped up in bandages. Not even the eyes or mouth were exposed, only two holes for the nostrils.

Everyone surrounded the bed, looking at Markus's body.

Nora grabbed his hand. "...Markus… I… I'm... I'm sorry." She was barely able to get out before Ren had to leave the room with her.

The room was silent.

…

Eventually, Blake spoke through the silence. "On initiation day, he told me about himself when I followed him. This was after he made Yang cry. I recorded it all." She took out her scroll. "The nurse said that simulating him in some way would be his best chance. I'm going to play it."

What was left of team JNPR seemed to already know this, surprising Blake. The rest of team RWBY, however, suddenly jolted up and focused their ears. Blake laid the scroll on the bed and tapped it.

 _...You know, all I've ever known in this life of mine is crime. As long as I can remember, me and my father have always been robbing, stealing, threatening, and other similar things._

A pause.

 _But, he went too far. I should have noticed it earlier. If at the beginning, we were doing it for money, he started doing it for his love of bloodshed and crime. But the breaking point was around a week ago._

Was the heartbeat monitor beeping faster?

 _Beep… beep… beep… beep..._

 _On that day, we put a plan into motion that involved Yang. He never told me what we were doing until the end. When I found out, I tried to stop him. I can't even hope to beat him in a battle, but I fought against him anyways._

The monitor was definitely beeping faster, but no one noticed.

 _Beep beep beep beep_

 _I lost, but was able to keep anything from happening to Yang and escaped. So, I came here. To hide from him. And to become stronger, and eventually be able to kill my father. His madness has gone on long enough._

Blake shot her head towards the monitor. It was speeding up at a scary rate.

 _Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep_

Was the bed… creaking?

 _So, tell me, Blake. Was I wrong? Should I not have come here, so that Yang wouldn't break down? Should I have stayed with my father?_

Everyone looked towards the machine now, except Yang. The bed was definitely making noise, as well.

 _BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!_

Markus was almost sitting up. There was a huge torrent of blood coming out of his nose holes. Where his mouth was, it looked like the bandages were soaked in blood.

Markus was convulsing furiously; he was having a seizure, and a bad one at that.

Alarms started sounding. Everyone ran to the bed and tried to hold him down. Yang stayed where she was and wasn't moving at all.

Nora and Ren ran in to see Markus in his scary state. They yelled something before dashing over and holding down his legs.

Not a moment later, a nurse and a doctor ran in and looked at Markus and the crowd of people. The doctor glared at his nurse before turning and yelling into the hallway.

"We need blood for 318 and anesthetic, stat!" The doctor ran somewhere else.

The nurse looked at the teens. "You need to leave. Now." She didn't wait for any reactions before running over to Markus's side and doing various medical procedures.

Teams RWBY and JNPR hesitantly left the room. Except Yang. Blake had to grab onto her shoulders and drag her out.

The teams were forced out of the wing.

...

They returned to their dorms, and attempted to sleep.

 **-Break-**

 _Somewhere_

Sykes was wiping the counter. He looked up every so often, as if he was expecting someone.

...

The doors creaked open. Sykes looked up to see a man with dark blue hair walk into the bar like a zombie. It was as if he was completely asleep and the only way he moved was through the interference of another force.

The man slowly lumbered over to the counter and collapsed onto the chair. He was now leaning on the counter, completely unconscious.

He comes here often.

"Hey, wake up." Sykes spoke.

...

The man woke up. Sykes knew. But, the man stayed laying on the counter, unmoving.

"You didn't die. Yet." Sykes told him.

The man moved a little.

"You are in a coma, and you are quickly approaching brain death. If your friends dont wake you up in a week, you will die."

The man lifted his head. He must have not felt the need to talk.

"I told you, I can't predict you. I wouldn't have stopped it if i was there, either." Sykes tapped his fingers together. "But… I may have increased your body's fragility a little when I realized what was going on. Sorry!"

The man glared at him with the fury of a thousand suns.

Sykes grabbed a beer from the ceiling and brought it in front of him when the man started glaring at him. "I'm impressed, actually. You dying in a week and your friends scrambling to save you is a very good story event."

Sykes clapped. "You'll miss some main plot events, but all in all things will be great. If you die, your father (me) will be very angry, leading to things happening faster. If you live, you get strengthened bonds with your teammates. Character development! It will be great."

...

Sykes pointed behind him, to where a TV was hanging behind the bar, on the wall. It wasn't there before.

The man tilted his head.

"Sports? Why would I play sports on it?" Sykes replied to his silence. "This is so you can watch what's going on down there."

Sykes grabbed a remote control from somewhere and pressed on it. The TV turned on to show a medical room with eight people in it, not including the figure on the bed.

Soon after, two of the eight left the room after one was barely able to get out an apology.

...

By this point, the man was able to catch on to what was happening, if him glaring holes into Sykes again was any evidence.

Sykes leaned against the counter so he could look at the TV.

…

On the TV, one of the figures took out a scroll and started playing something on it.

Slowly, the man on the bed twitched and bled more and more.

By the end, he was in a seizure, and the heartbeat monitor and other equipment were going nuts. It was like a medical drama.

...

The man glared at Sykes again.

"Yes, I know." Sykes walked towards the door next to the bar. "Well, have fun. If you end up dying, I'll think of something to do with you. Until then, enjoy the show!"

Sykes opened the door. "Oh yes, grab any drink you want. You won't get hungry here. Bye!"

When he passed the doorway, he disappeared.

…

The man sighed and turned back to the TV.

 **-Break-**

Team RWBY were walking in Vale headed towards the port, under Weiss's insistence.

Team JNPR were also somewhere in the city, in an attempt to cheer Nora up.

…

They reached the port, passing a crime scene.

"-ou thinking the White Fang?" A detective said.

His colleague replied. "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

Weiss picked up on their conversation and snorted. "Hmph. The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."

Blake was immediately annoyed. "What's your problem?"

Weiss opened her mouth but was interrupted by a blonde faunus running by.

"Hey! Wait up, you monkey!" One of the detectives ran after him.

...

Yang spoke. "Well, Weiss. There's your competition." She pointed to the faunus.

Weiss looked away from Blake and towards the monkey. "Wait! Let us observe you!" She ran after him.

Blake chuckled and Yang laughed at her choice of wording.

When Weiss was about to turn the corner though, she collided with another person and fell. Weiss was able to see the very end of the faunus escaping on a roof. "No! He got away!"

Yang pointed under Weiss and spoke in an odd tone. "Uhh… Weiss?"

Weiss looked down at the girl she was pinning down.

She was startled and quickly stood back up.

The girl was still laying on the ground. "Salutations!"

 _Later._

Weiss and Blake were arguing in their dorm.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss almost yelled.

"That _is_ the problem!" Blake hissed.

...

"No!" Weiss glared. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe _we_ were just tired of being pushed around" Blake yelled.

Silence descended on the room immediately after she said that.

It took a moment, but Blake realized her mistake and looked around.

"I… I…" Blake turned and ran.

"Wait! Come back!" Ruby and Yang yelled into the hallway. "Blake!"

…

Yang sat down on her bed while Ruby stayed leaning her head outside, hoping that Blake would come back.

Yang spoke. "I'm sure she will come back soon."

Ruby kept looking out the door. "I hope…"

Weiss didn't say anything.

...

 **-Break-**

 _Later_

She didn't come back.

So, team RWBY minus Blake were in the empty streets of Vale, looking for Blake. They also got team JNPR to help, thanks to Yang's persuasion. Ruby was with her new friend, Penny.

They decided to stay together, because JNPR did not want to leave Nora alone. They probably didn't want her to think she lost another friend.

Suddenly,

 _BOOM!_

A huge explosion sounded out, not far from them. They looked over the buildings to see the top of a large mushroom cloud.

Weiss spoke up. "That's… where a Schnee Dust shipment is taking place!" She started running. "Let's go! Maybe Blake is there!"

She clearly had other reasons for going, but everyone else wanted something else to do. So, they nodded and ran after her.

…

Upon arriving, they saw Blake and another man fighting with Roman Torchwick.

Weiss recognized him instantly. "That… hoodlum must be here to steal the Dust!" She charged towards him from above through the use of glyphs.

Everyone else charged and fought the White Fang grunts doing whatever around them.

...

Roman was panting heavily after getting kicked down by Blake.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all those chips._

…

While laying on the ground, he saw a rapier headed right towards his face. He rolled out of the way, and stood up using his momentum. He wasn't able to do very much after though, he was panting and leaning on his knees.

...

Weiss looked back at Blake, who was starting to run away from her. "Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?"

Blake stopped.

"Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided that _I don't care!"_

Blake looked over her shoulder. "Really?"

"You're not part of the White Fang anymore, right?"

Blake turned around and made explaining gestures. "No! I-I left them when..."

"Ah-ba-ba-ba-ba! I don't want to hear it. All I want from you is a promise that the next time something big like this comes up, you'll come to your team. Not some…" She looked over to the blonde faunus. "Someone else."

Blake smiled and wiped a tear. "Of course."

…

"Now, I think we have something to wrap up, right?" Blake shot that last word at Roman, who was panting and leaning on a shipping container.

By this point, everyone has pretty much finished up. They walked over, and now Roman was surrounded by teams RWBY and JNPR, Penny and Sun.

…

He held his hands up. "H-hey kids, don't you think you could let this old man off? _Pant..._ "

No one replied to him, only raising their weapons a little higher.

Weiss was going to say something but was interrupted before she could start.

...

"Hey, boss, having trouble?" A voice came from somewhere.

 **-Break-**

 _Somewhere_

A man drinking a beer stopped, slammed the beer on the bar counter and focused all of his attention on the TV in front of him.

 **-Break-**

 _Remnant_

Roman looked up. "What do you think, numbnut?! Help me out, here!"

A black figure came from above and landed in front of Roman. "Okay."

The figure stood up. You could see his white hair and the snowflakes on his coat. Similar to, but not exactly SDC snowflakes. "Sorry, kids. Orders." He was smiling unnervingly.

...

Ruby and Yang both yelled out. "It's you!"

Yang ran up to him and tried to punch him in the head. He dodged easily, and shoved Yang as she passed so that she would stumble and fall.

"Oh, if it isn't Goldilocks. And the interfering girl." He recognized them.

Ruby was nervous, and it showed in her voice. "Y-you're Markus's f-father, right?"

That got everyone to freeze. Except Sun and Penny, who didn't know who Markus was.

"Oh! You know my son?" He seemed to warp in front of Ruby. "Where is he?"

Yang got up and charged at his back. "Stay away from Ruby!"

Roman yelled. "Hey! Quit yapping and take care of them!"

Sykes sidestepped to avoid the fist heading towards the back of his head. When Yang flew past him, he stepped forward, grabbed Yang's head, and smashed it into the ground. Hard.

He stood up from his squat, still smiling. "Oh, yeah. I'm on it, boss." Yang was unmoving.

"YAN-" Ruby was only able to get out before she was sent flying back. She smashed into a shipping container a bit further away. Sykes was standing where she previously was, a fist outstretched.

"Sorry about this, kids." He turned towards the others.

Everyone started reacting now. Weiss used a glyph to fire herself at him, Blake used a clone to jump away from him, and team JNPR and Sun were already charging at him. Penny reacted much before, and already had a couple swords stabbing towards Sykes.

Sykes disappeared and reappeared in front of Nora. Her hammer was heading towards him, but he stopped it with a hand. A grenade was shot out the end, which he caught and threw at Ren.

Ren wasn't able to dodge in time, and was sent flying back. Sykes kicked Nora in the stomach, forcing her away from her weapon.

He picked up Magnhild. "Nice hammer." He gave it a few practice swings with one hand. "Very nice." He had to lean back to dodge a jab from Weiss's Myrtenaster.

He spun incredibly quickly and swung Nora's hammer towards Weiss with one arm. She was not at all prepared for the speed she was seeing and was batted away successfully.

Weiss smashed against a shipping container and grunted in pain.

"...Oh, would you look at that. Fire Dust." He cocked Magnhild behind him, then threw it at the crate Weiss was leaning against.

With the speed the hammer was traveling at, she was only able to release the beginnings of a panicked shriek before it hit the crate.

 _BOOOM!_

"Weiss!" Blake was worried for her partner.

She glared towards the offending figure. "...Bastard!" She ran towards him at maximum speed.

Sykes turned towards her. She was already about to slice him in half, vertically. He grabbed a flying sword that would have stabbed him in the back to stop her slash.

While in this deadlock, he moved closer to Blake's face. He was smiling like always. "You… look familiar. Do I know you?" She snarled in response.

The deadlock was broken, as he had to duck to avoid Sun's staff and Jaune's sword. He jumped back to dodge a floating sword's leg sweep, grabbing its wire on the way. Once he was standing again, he gave the wire a mighty pull.

A yell of surprise came from somewhere, and Penny was pulled off her feet. Sykes pulled more and more as he bent and jumped to dodge strikes. Penny tried to let out the cables as he was pulling on them, but his pulling speed was more that what she could reliably handle.

...

 _Click_

Penny's eyes opened at this sound. She had ran out of cable. She shot towards Sykes unwillingly.

She tried striking him with her swords the entire time, but he was able to dodge and parry them all with the cable.

When she was finally close enough to him, he pulled her up in front of him and grabbed her by the back of the neck and the very end of her cable.

He backed away from the students, who stopped attacking due to his new human shield.

He whispered into Penny's ear. "I know you have a low power mode, robot. Go into it, or I will tear it off." He lightly tugged on her cables to clarify what he was talking about.

Penny's eyes widened.

 _How did he know that I am a robot?_

She shook her head; it doesn't matter. "I will never give up, if I can help my friends!"

She felt him shrug. "Okay, then."

 _R-RIP!_

Sykes dropped the end of the cables, which were still arcing electricity.

Penny looked dazed. She probably didn't expect him to do it so suddenly, or maybe it was the rush of warnings that flooded her head once such an integral part of her was forcibly removed.

She couldn't stay dazed for long though, because Sykes stabbed his clawed hand into her back, destroying some technology inside. As if that was not enough, her monitors read a powerful surge of electricity stemming from his hand, frying and wrecking even more machinery.

Penny started spasming, bolts of electricity able to be seen through her hair and between her fingers, before she stilled. Her eyes dilated, and she slumped forward.

Sykes tossed her smoking body on the ground, smiling.

This action was successfully able to re-ignite the students' anger, and they charged towards him with renewed vigor. Nora and Ren were rooting around in a dusty and destroyed container for any sign of either Magnhild or Weiss.

Sykes picked up one of Penny's now-grounded swords and weighed it in his hand before nodding. He disappeared from where he was.

He appeared again behind Sun, stomping on his tail to stop his movement. Sun yelled in pain before turning around quickly, shotguns ready.

But it was too late. The sword was already less than an inch from his head, and was not stopping.

Sun was knocked unconscious is one hit.

If Sykes were using the sharp side of the sword, Sun might have died. But, it seems that he didn't.

The others heard his yell and turned around to see Sun's body collapsing in front of Sykes.

This made them angrier, and they charged once again. By now, Ren was able to find Weiss under a piece of metal and dragged her to somewhere safe. Nora was also able to find her hammer, which was still in perfect condition, if not for some smudges and a small dent. They were able to flank Sykes.

"We're halfway there." Sykes talked to himself.

Pyrrha picked up scraps of metal with her semblance and was flinging them at Sykes. Nora and Ren were charging behind him and were preparing to attack with very powerful movements. Blake was running at him from another side. And Jaune was doing the best he could in a frontal attack.

They all converged on him at once.

Sykes gave a glimpse of his incredible speed. He was able to kick all of them away, except for Nora and Jaune, at once.

He also seemed to slash the metal pieces at the exact same moment, cutting them small enough that they couldn't do anything.

He disappeared and reappeared behind Nora. Grabbing onto her hammer right above where she did, he pushed forward and made Magnhild come down with many times the previous force and speed it had before.

Right onto Jaune's head.

Jaune slammed into the ground with a grunt.

Nora let go of her weapon and got on her knees to check on Jaune. She must be afraid of hurting another teammate with her hammer.

Jaune was dazed, but still conscious.

Or, at least he was, until Sykes stomped his foot on the back of his head, knocking him out for good.

Nora looked up, with unconcealed hatred burning in her eyes. "You…"

She was unable to finish. Sykes kicked her in the chin, making her stand up. Sykes continued his assault on her.

Relentless kicks slammed on her from all angles. Nora was getting pushed back. Sykes was fast. Very fast. Tens, perhaps hundreds of kicks rained down on Nora within the span of five seconds.

Then, he stopped. Nora was standing, and Sykes was standing in front of her, as if he hasn't moved at all.

Nora crumbled to the ground. She was knocked out a long time ago.

He turned to the three that were left. "Seems like it's just you three left."

…

Ren roared out in rage and ran straight for him. His trained instincts made him unconsciously activate his semblance, but not even that was enough to quell the rage bubbling inside him.

Sykes shot a devastating punch to his face once he got near.

Ren isn't nearly as tough as Nora is.

He was knocked out instantly.

...

Ren couldn't do a single thing.

…

Sykes looked down at Ren's body. He looked back up to see two _very_ angry and shocked girls. "Well, it's just you two." He still had that damn smile on his face.

Pyrrha and Blake elected to use a hit-and-run strategy. They were running away, while stopping to fire shots at him every so often.

Sykes didn't chase after them. Instead, he sighed and reached into his coat.

 _BANG BANG BANG BANG!_

The girls stumbled and fell, yelping in pain. They looked to their ankles. Each had a bullet in them.

Faces pale, they looked up to see Sykes strolling towards them.

They turned to their weapons, which were laying slightly ahead of them.

 _BANG BANG!_

Their weapons were sent skidding away.

...

 _Tak... tak... tak..._

His footsteps rang like thunder in their ears.

And then, he arrived. He had Magnhild in his hand.

…

He walked up to Blake, who was hyperventilating. He didn't even spare her a glance before slamming the hammer over her head. Blake was knocked out.

Pyrrha tried to use her semblance to retrieve her weapon, but somehow the bullet in her ankle must have completely depleted her aura. Without any aura, she couldn't use her semblance.

He walked to Pyrrha. She was kneeling in front of him.

Pyrrha looked at him where she believed his eyes were.

"What… kind of _monster_ are you?"

The man laughed.

"I didn't want to be one, either."

Pyrrha could not think over these words, as Nora's hammer was already brought down on her head.

Pyrrha's world turned black.

…

…

…

Sykes walked towards Penny's still body.

If she was conscious, she would have been able to see most of what happened. The way she was laying allowed her eyes to view everything.

Sykes lifted her up by the neck and stared at her in the eyes.

"Enjoying the show?" Sykes's smile increased to a never before seen size before he sent a crushing punch to her face.

...

Sykes ended the video recording that no one else knew was being made.

…

…

…

He laid all the unconscious bodies next to each other, like sardines.

Snapping his fingers to heal everything in the area, it looked like nothing ever happened to the general area or to the people.

Nodding to himself, he made sure that the video was saved in Penny's memory before snapping his fingers again.

This time, he removed the illusion affecting everything past a certain area.

He waved and smiled to a camera that was previously affected by the illusion, and the crow standing on top of it.

Before the crow could start flying towards him, he disappeared.

* * *

 **I'm not good at writing fight scenes. What do you think?**


	10. Ten - A Difficult Dream

**I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

 _Somewhere_

Sykes stepped into the bar. He was immediately tackled.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU HURT PENNY!"

...

Sykes looked at the man pinning him down. "Wipe your face, idiot son. And stop crying."

The man seemed to realize what he was doing. He stood up, but crossed his arms. He didn't wipe his face. Or stop crying.

Sykes stood up and looked around. "What the hell did you do here?" There was broken glass and alcoholic liquids all over the floor and counter.

"Your recent actions are decidedly against my morals." Markus so angry on the inside he used words beyond his range of comprehension. "Therefore, I have elected to enact my personal justice on your bar." Markus pointed his nose away with a 'hmph'.

Sykes went into a back room and came back with a mop and bucket. "I wasn't listening." He threw the mop at Markus. "Mop the mess you made. Now."

Sykes himself grabbed a dustpan and got on his knees to pick up glass shards.

…

"Okay, listen, Sykes." Markus was mopping the best that he could. "I know you had to beat all of them for the purpose of plot progression, but was it really necessary to traumatically stomp on all of them? Penny should only have to die once."

Sykes brought his shards to the trash can. "Yes."

Markus paused, then sighed and continued. "Would you be so kind as to elaborate on that?"

Sykes got back on his knees. "Well, they need to understand that your father (me) is pretty much godlike in strength, and that they will need to be smart when they eventually attempt to deal with me." Sykes looked up at Markus. "There is a way to beat me, they just need to figure it out. I can't wait."

...

Markus washed his mop in the bucket. His eyes drifted to the TV. "Did you really kill Penny?."

"Yes. It's hard to incapacitate a robot."

"She's not a robot, Sykes."

Sykes looked at his son. "...Shut up, son. You've been watching too much RWBY. Either way, I fixed her. She will be fine."

Markus was still looking at the TV, which was showing a crow fly towards a line of bodies before the screen faded to black and credits rolled.

Markus looked at Sykes, dumbfounded. "Did you actually make it into episodes? Really?"

"Of course I did. You should see the chibi episodes." Sykes threw the last piece of glass away.

Markus was even more perplexed at that statement.

...

Sykes looked at the cleaned floor and nodded. He stood up and wiped his hands on his legs. "Well then, I think it's time for me to return. Interesting things are happening, shame you can't be-" Sykes suddenly stopped and tackled Markus behind a table.

"Wha-"

" _Shhhhhhhhhhhh."_ Sykes held a finger to his lips. He turned to the entrance of the bar.

...

After a moment. the door opened. A familiar blonde walked in. She looked slightly dazed, like if she wasn't sure if anything was real. Maybe she was high.

 _Yang?! Here!?_

Markus shot his head towards Sykes. _"Why the hell is_ _she_ _here?!"_

He whispered back after staring at her for a minute. _"I have no idea. Just… stay still and she won't notice us. She's not high."_

...

Yang spoke up, despite looking lost. "What is this place, anyways?" No one replied. "And why do I keep coming here?" The lack of reply didn't seem to get any reaction from her. She must have been expecting it.

She walked on the freshly mopped floors towards the bar, and sat on one of the stools.

"Hellooooo? Can anyone get me a drink?" She said to no one. Markus noted that her eyes were half lidded perhaps the entire time.

…

Markus was nudged by Sykes. When he turned, he saw a massive smile forming on Sykes's face. Sykes looked at Markus. _"She thinks that this is a dream. Want to have some fun?"_

" _Fun?"_ Markus didn't like the sound of that. _"...Normal fun or terrorizing girls fun?"_

Sykes nudged him harder and took out a dry erase board. _"Just follow what's on the board."_ He smiled further. _"Ready? Good!"_

Sykes snapped his fingers and suddenly Markus was behind the counter, easily viewed by all. Yang happened to be looking away, for the moment.

Before Markus could panic, he saw Sykes shaking the board with words written on it behind Yang. He couldn't be sure how many miracles from heaven it took for Yang to not notice his movements.

 **ACT LIKE A BARTENDER**

 **SAY 'WHAT CAN I GET YOU, BEAUTIFUL?'**

 **ALSO ACT DREAMY**

 **I INCREASED YOUR HANDSOMENESS AND GENERAL CHARM**

 **BY A LOT**

Sykes was snickering. Markus sighed inwardly, before leaning on the counter and putting on a calm smile.

"What can I get you, beautiful?" It took a little bit of time for Markus to realize that the incredibly charming voice coming from his mouth was actually his.

Yang definitely wasn't expecting someone to answer. She froze, then after a couple seconds of regaining her senses, she shot around with a jolt. "I-it's you! W-what are you doing here?!"

The board shook.

 **SAY 'I DON'T KNOW. WHY ARE YOU HERE, SUNSHINE?'**

Markus sighed internally again but used his best smile, outwardly. "I don't know. why are you here, sunshine?"

Yang stared dumbly at him, but glared a moment later. "Don't call me that."

The board shook.

 **DONT REPLY, WIPE A GLASS INSTEAD**

A glass appeared in Markus's hand, under the counter. Markus lifted up his arm and grabbed the rag that was placed under his hand somehow. Yang noticed the sudden existence of the rag, but was apathetic. He wiped.

...

The board shook.

 **ASK IF SHE WANTS A DRINK**

 **AND BE HANDSOME**

Sykes snickered even more.

Markus let out the biggest of all non-existent sighs. He looked up from his glass at Yang, who seemed to be entranced. "Would you like anything to drink, beautiful?"

Yang didn't react, and kept staring.

...

 _Jesus, how handsome did he make me?_

Markus glanced at his reflection in the glass. He could only get a general idea, as he could not see perfectly.

...

It was enough.

 _...Oh my god._

Yang and Markus both stared at Markus for a while.

…

The glass in Markus's hand disappeared. Markus's mood was noticeably dampened.

He glared at Sykes. Markus was still smiling, though.

The board shook.

 **DON'T GET DISTRACTED, IDIOT SON**

 **NOW JUST GRAB THE DRINK BEHIND YOU AND PUT IT IN FRONT OF HER**

Markus scowled at him for a millisecond, before reverting to his calm smile. Markus turned around. On the counter behind him, there was a small and stout glass with a milky liquid in it.

He grabbed it and turned around, careful not to spill any.

Before he could place it down, the board shook.

 **SYKES'S BARTENDER RULE #1**

 **NAME THE DRINK WHEN YOU PLACE IT DOWN**

 **SO, MAKE UP A NAME**

Markus frowned as his mind went to work thinking of applicable adjectives. He was never good at naming things, as evident by his chants.

…

Markus placed the milky liquid in front of Yang. "This one is called 'Udder Delight'"

The board shook. This time, though, it was not a message.

It was Sykes trying his absolute best to not collapse. He had to clap his hand over his mouth.

The absurd name of the drink was able to get Yang out of her daze. "W-why should I drink something from _you?"_

The board shook.

 **HANDSOMENESS IS A** _ **VERY**_ **POTENT WEAPON**

Loud and clear, Sykes. Loud and clear.

...

Markus smiled and leaned towards Yang. "For me?"

…

…

…

Yang slammed down her 16th glass. "...Why's the dream gotta be about _you_!? Why not the blond guy or even the girly guy?!"

Markus shrugged while wiping the counter like Sykes (which is Sykes's Bartender Rule #2). "Who knows."

Yang was slurring. "And what the hell is up with your father?! He's completely nuts!"

The board shook for the first time in a while.

 **SAY 'WHY WOULD I KNOW?'**

Markus kept his calm smile. "Why would I know?"

Yang stood up and yelled at him. "Because you're his son!"

The board shook.

 **SAY 'NO I'M NOT, I'M…'**

Markus glanced at Sykes. Sykes nodded. Markus decided to trust him.

"No I'm not, I'm…"

The board shook.

 **SAY 'YOUR SISTER'**

Markus held in the need to scream at Sykes.

"...Your sister." Immediately when he finished that sentence, he noticed that his eye's height seemed to lower substantially.

He looked at his arm on the counter.

 _A dress?_

Yang was shocked. So much, in fact, the alcohol was seemingly deleted from her system. "Ruby?!"

...

Markus figured out what happened.

 _You've got to be kidding me._

...

The board shook.

 **ACT CREEPILY AND SPOOK YANG**

 _ **...**_

 _Okay, now this could be a little fun._

"Of course I am Ruby, Yang!" Markus had trouble getting used to his new voice, but he tried to smile in a spooky way. "How many cute little sisters do you have?"

...

Yang looked successfully spooked. "R-Rubes? You feeling okay?" She backed up a little.

"Of course I am, Yang! Never better!" Ruby (Markus) walked around the counter. Markus noted that the voice that came out was slightly twisted; demonic, even.

The board shook.

 **RUN TOWARDS HER!**

Markus had to hold in his chuckle.

"Yang!" 'Ruby' ran towards Yang, arms out. The voice was definitely demonic sounding now. And, did the surroundings darken a little?

Yang shrieked and fell on her bottom. "W-who are you!?"

The board shook.

 **SAY 'I'M JUST A FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATION'**

Markus frowned.

 _I was having fun..._

 _Oh well._

"Me?" 'Ruby' stopped and pointed at herself. "I'm just a figment of your imagination!"

The moment Markus finished his sentence, everything disappeared and was replaced by pure blackness. Yang seemed to think this place was familiar. She shuddered.

Now, there was only 'Ruby', Yang, and Sykes stupidly standing behind Yang while holding a board.

The board shook.

Markus nodded inwardly. This will work well.

...

"Do you want to know what I noticed, Yang?" The demonic voice rang out.

Yang was snapped from looking around by her sisters voice. "Huh?"

The board shook.

"I noticed that you've never even thanked me for saving you."

Markus didn't know if that was true, but if Sykes says so, it must be true. Sykes nodded behind Yang.

The board shook.

"Or Markus. It's like you only know how to hate him."

Yang got angry at the mention of his name. "Why should I thank _him?"_

The board shook.

"If it wasn't for him, you would have been raped."

Yang seemed startled by that word coming from her sweet sister's mouth. "But… he was one of the ones who started it!"

Markus thought it sounded like she was having trouble thinking of things to hate him for.

The board shook.

"And he stopped it. And he apologized. That was almost four months ago."

Yang turned silent at that. It was true. He had apologized. It was in his own odd way, but he at least tried.

Why was Yang so mad at him?

The board shook.

"If I can remember it, you can too, Yang." The figment of Yang's imagination in the shape of Ruby said.

 _After all, I am you._ He wanted to say. That is what a dream apparition would say, right?

It was false, but it could be considered almost true.

Markus knows Yang's past, present, and future. He knows how her personality works. He knows how her abilities work.

He may even know more about her than she could ever know herself, through Sykes.

Being her is not that far off. And Markus was sure Sykes could do it if he wanted to.

The board shook.

"Yang. It's time to forgive." The demonic voice was no more. It was Ruby's.

...

Yang stuttered. She was probably thinking a lot. "B-but…"

The board shook.

"But this is just a dream." 'Ruby' shrugged. "Do whatever you want, Yang."

The board shook.

"Oh! He's coming, Yang. It's time for me to leave. Bye!" 'Ruby' ran off somewhere in the opposite direction and disappeared after a few steps.

"...W-who? Who's coming?" Yang noticed that 'Ruby' had left after a moment.

She was answered by a claw gripping her head. Yang shuddered at the familiarity of the hand.

"It's good to see you again, Goldilocks." Someone behind her said.

Thousands of emotions ran through Yang's head at that moment, but one stood out the most.

Fear.

Not just from him almost raping her, but from his pure strength as well.

Could she have resisted if he tried a more direct approach?

Yang shuddered again. She didn't want to think about it.

She remembered how easily he was able to beat her. It took just one movement.

She remembered how she heard Ruby get cut off and thrown against a container when she cried out her name. Yang doesn't remember anything after that. She hoped the rest were okay.

A shadow creeped over her shoulder and a breath tickled her ear. "Your friends are _dead._ And you can't do a thing about it." Sykes softly spoke to her. "And, the only man that can… was abandoned."

"N-No…" She barely whispered back.

 _SMASH_

Sykes drove her head into the black ground. After a second, Yang disappeared.

The seed of doubt has been planted.

…

Then, the bar and everything appeared again. 'Ruby' was swinging her legs off a bar stool.

"Sykes! This is incredible! It's been so long since I could act cute!" 'Ruby' told Sykes.

Sykes hunched over and laughed. Maybe from Markus, maybe from the pleasure he takes in terrorizing Yang. Maybe no one will ever know.

…

He stood up straight again after a minute of laughter. "Well, Yang will probably wake up down there soon. I need to go back now."

Sykes walked towards the door. "See you, 'Ruby'" Sykes smirked and opened the door. He walked through.

The door closed. He didn't bother bringing Markus back to normal.

…

…

...

Markus looked down at his new body.

...

The door opened again and Sykes walked in.

"Don't even think about it."

Sykes walked back out.

The door closed.

…

…

...

"Make me, old man."

 **-Break-**

Penny started up and opened her eyes. She sat up before starting to remember what happened.

She grabbed her chest. It seemed to be fixed, and everything inside was working fine. She tested her weapons, and her systems told her she was all clear.

 _What happened?_

Her surroundings then registered around her. She was in a medical room, empty of any medical machinery, and empty of people. There was, however, a large black box with a cable attached to her back. A charger.

She was laying on the bed.

...

Not a moment later, a man wearing a green suit walked in.

He spoke after staring at her for a moment. "Miss Polendina, the general wishes for your presence. If you would follow me, please."

Penny tiled her head. "Who are you?"

The man leaned on his cane. "I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, and friend of the general's. You are currently in my school."

Penny recognized the name and became respectful. "Yes, sir." She unplugged, got off the bed and walked to him.

...

They started walking down the hallway towards the main building.

"You were the first of your friends to wake up." He said as he passed the other rooms. "It's been a couple of hours since we found you."

He sent a sorrowful glance at one of the rooms as he passed.

Penny noticed, but her curiosity was overshadowed by her worry. "Are they okay, sir?"

Ozpin nodded. "They are all fine. However, none of us knows what happened." He turned to Penny. "The general says you we could trust you. While I do trust my students quite a bit, the general was adamant on you reporting."

Penny nodded

...

They kept walking, eventually reaching an elevator and stepping in.

Once they reached the top, Penny got to see an office with gears of all sizes spinning and working all around the room. Standing beside the desk in the room were three people.

General Ironwood, who Penny recognized, a blonde woman with glasses, and a pale black haired man who was crossing his arms. Penny did not recognize those two.

Ozpin walked past them and sat behind the desk. Penny walked towards the general and saluted.

Ironwood started talking. "You're here, Penny. Good." Penny waited for an order. "Report. Make it quick.

"Yes sir." Penny relaxed her salute. "Me, and nine other huntsmen-in-training were almost able to apprehend criminal Roman Torchwick in the docks. Before we could, one of his underlings came to help him escape."

Penny took in a breath. "The underling beat us all, easily."

Ironwood thought on this and Ozpin talked in the silence. "Do you have anything on this man? Pictures, videos, records?"

Penny looked to the general, who nodded.

"...There are no criminal records on him, or anyone that looks like him. There are no citizenship records either, at least in Atlas. As for media, I have no…" Penny blinked.

She had found an emergency video recording.

Emergency video recordings save everything that happened ten minutes before she entered an emergency state, and continue recording until they can no longer.

"Actually, there is a video of what happened earlier. It shows the entire thing from my point of view, and after I was put into an emergency state."

Ironwood looked towards Penny. "You were put into an emergency state? When we found you, you were in perfect condition."

Penny seemed surprised. "Really? I had assumed that father had repaired me. I remember being badly damaged by him."

...

Penny seemed to enter a trance for a moment. "I sent the video to you, sir." She told Ironwood.

Ironwood took out the scroll and nodded. He handed to Ozpin. "Play it."

Ozpin took the scroll and put it into a hole that appeared on his desk. A TV that was on a wall turned on and started playing. Everyone looked at it.

 **-Break-**

Sykes appeared in an alley.

He decided to lay low and stay away from Roman for the next week, until when he meets with Cinder and her gang. Then, he will introduce himself again.

Sykes strolled out the alley and walked on the streets of Vale for a bit. Once he found what he was looking for, he crossed the street to head towards a building.

He entered the building, letting a door chime ring. Across the room, a man leaning on the desk reading a book looked up.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade. How can I help you?"

…

Sykes looked around the room. There were many waist-high shelves filled with books. On top of them were stacks of more books.

The shelves were roughly arranged into an aisle organization.

The general lighting was dark, making shadows everywhere from the tall stacks of books.

Sykes stopped looking around. "When's the last time you organized this place?"

Tukson closed his book. "It's organized the way it is, even if it doesn't look like it. I can point you any book you need."

Sykes hummed. "Got any books on myths, legends, gods?"

Tukson thought for a moment. "There's a couple over there." He pointed to a corner. "If that's not enough, I can get some from the back."

Sykes walked over to reach down and grab a book.

Gods of Remnant

This one will work. Sykes found multiple stacks of books that happened to be shaped exactly like a sofa, and sat down to start reading.

Sykes read about two brethren gods, and how the elder would create during the day, and the younger would destroy what his brother created during the night.

...

Sykes was just about to get to the part about the creation of humanity before he decided to speak up.

"You're being hunted, you know." Sykes didn't turn away from the book.

Tukson frowned, but was not surprised. "I know."

Sykes kept reading. "I'd leave soon if I were you. Vacuo isn't a bad choice, this time of year. Hell, why not even Menagerie? They can't do a thing to you there."

"The White Fang is all over Menagerie. I'd just be running to another enemy." Tukson looked at Sykes. "You're one of them, aren't you? I could tell at the first glance."

Sykes hummed. "Very perceptive, Tukson." He yawned. "But, no. I'm on vacation."

Tukson looked back at his book, thoughts unknown.

…

Sykes closed his book. "I'd say you have about a week before someone else comes. You will die when that happens."

"I know." Tukson spoke. Very little emotion was in his voice.

Sykes stood up. "...I see." He walked over to the counter and laid his book down. "How much?"

Tukson didn't look up. "20 lien."

Sykes took a card out of his coat. "Use it well, Tukson. I'm interested in your future." He left the card on the counter before grabbing the book and walking out.

...

Tukson didn't look up.

 **-Break-**

...

" _Enjoying the show?"_

The man on screen's smile increased in magnitude before firing a devastating punch to the camera. The screen turned black and the video ended soon after.

…

Penny, a robot, managed to tremble.

The room was quiet. Qrow drank from his flask to calm his nerves. Probably from looking at his nieces get stomped.

Many questions were floating around the room's occupants.

 _Why are the students in perfect health, now?_

 _Why is he so strong?_

 _Who is Markus?_

 _Why does he know so much about classified Atlas technology?_

...

Ozpin broke the silence. "...Well, that was quite the experience."

Ironwood shot his head towards Ozpin. "Who is Markus?"

Ozpin looked back. "Markus is one of my most gifted students."

Ironwood narrowed his eyes. Ozpin spoke before he could.

"He is currently in a coma and is quickly approaching death." Ozpin glared at Ironwood. "You will not be doing a thing to him, James."

Ironwood's eyes widened slightly at that. "I want to see him."

Ozpin did not reply, instead glaring at the general.

...

Ironwood sighed after a small staring contest. "Fine. I will not do anything to him. For now." He made sure to stress that last remark.

"That's all I ask for, James." Ozpin stood up. "Qrow, Glynda, you come too."

They nodded.

Ironwood looked to Penny. "Retire to your room and charge. Dismissed."

Penny saluted. "Yes sir."

She left first.

...

When the elevator came back up, the four walked in and began their silent journey to the medical wing.

 **-Break-**

Penny was walking back to her medical room. She memorized the number.

On the way, she passed a room with a curious amount of noise coming from it. It was the room Ozpin looked at when he walked past.

The door was cracked, and the sounds of conversation were coming out from inside.

Her curiously got the better of her, and she opened the door. "Hello?"

Inside was a medical bed with a wrapped up figure on it, and nine teens sitting in a circle to the right of it. They all looked at her, before one's face brightened.

Ruby got excited. "Penny, you're okay! We were just talking, come join in!" She scooted a little to make space for one more person.

"Talking? About what?" Penny stayed at the door.

"About Markus's absolutely insane father!" Weiss spoke snappily. "What else?!"

Penny blinked. "And why are you talking in this specific room? It is occupied."

Ruby stood up. "Oh! Penny, this is Markus." She gestured to the figure on the bed. "He's kinda… injured… at the moment. But this is him!"

Penny walked over to the bed. "This is Markus? The son of that man from earlier?" She looked closer. "What does he look like?"

"Well… umm… he looks like his father, I guess? But with blue hair." Ruby probably wasn't good a describing boys.

"I see." Penny ran an edited photo of the man from yesterday through the criminal system.

Nothing. She turned to Ruby. "Okay! Let's talk!"

Penny and Ruby sat down on the circumference of the circle.

Before they could start again, the door opened.

Professor Ozpin stepped in. "...Oh, it seems that Markus already has visitors." He didn't back out and continued walking into the room, revealing the three behind him.

General Ironwood, Professor Goodwitch, and…

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby charged towards Qrow and made him stumble with a hug.

"H-hey, kiddo. What are you doing here?" Qrow wanted to ask what she was doing in a boy's room, but decided against it.

"We came here to talk about stuff! Wanna join?!"

Qrow was about to speak up, but Ironwood spoke to Ozpin first. "What will it take to get him talking again?" He was standing next to Markus.

Ozpin replied to him. "Doctor says the best chance we have right now is stimulating his brain somehow."

Ironwood thought on that for a moment. "So, give him something that is important to him?"

Ozpin also thought. "I… suppose so."

Qrow heard them, and turned to Ruby. "Does this kid have anything important to him?"

Ruby was deep in thought. "Hmm…"

Pyrrha suddenly yelled. "His frying pan! And coat!"

She ran out, headed for their dorms as quick as possible.

...

Qrow and Ironwood sounded perplexed.

"...Frying pan?"

"Markus uses a frying pan as a weapon." One of the students in the circle clarified.

"Oh."

…

After a little while, Pyrrha arrived back. She looked like she was struggling to carry the coat over her shoulder.

She entered the room and dropped the coat on the ground.

 _CRASH!_

The coat slammed on the ground and made a sound that could be mistaken for a tank falling from the sky.

Pyrrha was panting. "Why… is that… coat… so heavy? I… couldn't find the pan." She collapsed on the floor.

Ironwood attempted to lift the coat with one hand, but ended up having to use two.

He laid it on Markus's legs.

…

Markus didn't react. Nor did the medical machinery.

...

Just when everyone was almost done waiting for a response…

 _Clink_

Something fell on the floor.

It rolled like a coin, and stopped at Ozpin's feet.

He bent over to pick it up.

...

It was a small silver compass with no markings of any kind on it. On the bottom was small tag of masking tape with one word written on it.

 _Home_

* * *

 **Markus is currently living the dream.**


	11. Eleven - A Difficult Awakening

**I had a killer headache.**

 **Maybe I'm dying.**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

...

Ruby got up from behind the counter, panting.

"...Wow."

She had trouble standing up, but managed to do so by using to counter to support her. She followed the counter to get to a barstool. Sitting on it, she laid her arms on the counter and rested her chin on her arms. The TV behind the counter turned on magically, and a new episode of _Sykes's Female Terrorization Adventure_ began.

That wasn't the name of the show, but the synopsis. Ruby had nothing to do, so she focused on the TV.

...

"Did you enjoy yourself, son?" A familiar voice came from behind her. Ruby shivered and turned, slowly. "It smells." Sykes crinkled his nose. The TV turned off.

Sykes was standing behind Markus. When he got there, she had no idea. "...Umm. Yes. I suppose so." 'Ruby' turned back and hoped that Sykes would leave it alone.

But, like any good father, he did not.

"I thought I told you to not even think about it." Sykes crossed his arms behind 'Ruby'. "You are a very rebellious son. And it's beginning to affect others around you." Sykes was immensely disappointed in his son and his carnal desires.

'Ruby' took a long, hard look all around her for any others that she may have affected. "Mhmm. And I am no longer your son."

Sykes paused for a moment. "I was wrong. You are possibly the most rebellious son I have ever seen."

…

Sykes sat down next to his daughter. "It's not going to last forever, you know."

"I know. And I plan to squeeze as much satisfaction as possible from the time I am Ruby, papa." Markus smirked inwardly but smiled outwardly and looked at Sykes when he said that.

Sykes froze.

Markus basked in the pure excitement Sykes exuded from him getting called papa.

...

Eventually, he was able to talk. "...Well. I suppose it could be worse." Markus could have swore he saw Sykes quiver, as well.

…

"Don't you have something to do, papa?" 'Ruby' smiled.

 _Please go._

Sykes quivered again, but was able to stop it short. "...No. I have nothing to do until Roman meets with Cinder's entire gang." He looked at his wrist. "Down there, it is Tuesday of the week break between semesters. Roman seeing Cinder and friends happens on the first day of next semester. So, six days from now. Until then, I have nothing to do. You die on Friday."

'Ruby' tilted her head cutely and looked at her father. "Can't you just terrorize more women for six days, papa? It'd be fun, I'm sure."

Sykes looked at his daughter, but had to look away and mumbled something under his breath. "...No. I've just decided that I need to supervise this rebellious son of mine."

 _Damn._

…

"So, Sykes. Can you tell me why I have blue hair and purple eyes?" Markus completely forgot about that oddity until now. "Neither blue hair nor purple eyes exist on Earth."

Sykes looked at his daughter strangely. "Really? You've had it since I first met you."

'Ruby' was surprised at this revelation.

"What? You didn't know?" Sykes was also surprised. "That's odd. What did you look like, then?"

 _That's right. What_ did _I look like?_

Markus started thinking about his previous life's appearance.

 _...Blonde? Black? ...Brown?_

…

... _I… can't remember?_

It was like there was a black wall keeping his consciousness away from where he wanted to be. He could almost see it in his mind.

But, his complaints and panicked thoughts were interrupted.

Because, the wall attacked.

A very powerful headache pierced Markus's scalp.

"AHHHHH!" Markus couldn't help but yell in pain. He grabbed his head, but it didn't help. He fell from the stool.

...

Sykes looked at him. "Hmm. So that's how it is." He snapped his fingers and Markus was okay again.

'Ruby' looked up. "What the hell was that? It hurt like hell!"

Sykes grabbed a paper from his coat. "You didn't keep everything when you reincarnated. You lost a good amount of your previous life memories. Only the memories, you kept the general idea of your previous existence."

Sykes frowned. "But… that would mean the report was wrong."

Sykes glared at Markus. "What did you do? The machine has made two mistakes since I met you. For context, the machine has never made a mistake."

Markus didn't like being glared at. "Hey, blame your dumb machine. I never did anything." She (he) sat back down on the stool.

Sykes opened his mouth, but the TV turned on and started an episode.

Sykes stopped glaring and looked at the TV. "Take a look. They found that compass to our family cabin, now they are going to explore it. Hopefully they find my journal." Sykes nodded. "Oh yeah, they should be able to save you if they find something I left there."

Markus turned towards the TV. "Really?! Can I finally actually exist again?!"

Sykes brushed his daughter's hair with his hand. "Soon, my son. Soon."

'Ruby' smiled and turned to Sykes. "Thanks, papa!"

Sykes quivered. This time Markus was sure, he could feel it from the hand on his head.

...

 _I got you this time, bastard._

...

Sykes scowled.

 **-Break-**

Team RWBY were on a bullhead for a mission led by Qrow. Team JNPR wanted to come, but they lost the coin toss.

The mission? Explore Markus's house for a way to save him. Maybe even clues on his father.

The atmosphere was grim.

Now that they were on the mission, they remembered how urgent Markus's condition was. Chasing Blake for most of the weekend caused them to forget about him.

Markus will die in three days.

...

The pilot of the bullhead looked back at Qrow. "Sir, we are entering Forever Fall. There won't anywhere to land once we get further in. Do we land now?"

Qrow looked at the compass in his hand. "It's been shaking a lot, so I think it's close. Land here."

The pilot nodded. "Yes, sir."

The bullhead reduced its altitude and landed on a small clearing in the forest. Qrow and team RWBY hopped out. The bullhead left after its pilot told Qrow something.

Qrow looked down at the compass. He spun towards a direction. "Let's go, kids. It's this way."

…

"Who would build a house in Forever Fall, anyways? It would be a miracle if it hasn't been destroyed yet." Qrow took a swig from his flask.

Team RWBY + Qrow's hike in the forest was uneventful. Strangely, they did not run into any Grimm at all.

Eventually, Qrow spotted a _very_ out of place cabin quite a bit further ahead. It wasn't even made out of Forever Fall trees. He pointed at it. "Look, kids. A cabin. And I think it's the one we are looking for."

Team RWBY looked over. Blake saw it first. "...It's not made of wood from here, is it?"

Qrow shook his head. "Nope." Him shaking his head must have sobered him up a little too much, so he remedied that with another sip from his flask.

Ruby finally caught sight of it after looking around confusedly. "I see it! I'm going up ahead." She sped towards the cabin, using her semblance when she could.

"Wait! What about the Grimm!"

Yang tried to stop her sister. Weiss put a hand on her head to sooth her headache. Blake ran after her, and Qrow looked around.

"It's weird that there was no Grimm on our way here. I would be careful." He ran too, soon after.

…

When the three arrived, they saw Ruby hanging on the front door knob, futilely attempting to open it. Blake was standing behind her, waiting for the others.

Qrow chuckled. "Having trouble?"

"Uncleeee Qrowwww… it's hard to open this door." Ruby exerted herself one more time before dropping on the ground.

Qrow walked up to the door and slashed it in half. The now unattached side of the door fell in after a push.

A torrent of airborne dust came out, attacking their faces. Weiss took a handkerchief out from… somewhere (?) and placed it over her nose and mouth. With teary eyes, she spoke irritatedly. "Haven't they ever heard of dusting?! It's horrendous!"

Qrow walked in. The first thing he noticed was the family photo on a table near the entrance. He grabbed the photo and looked at it.

He whistled. "Wow. His mom really is a looker." He also noted how this particular photo had the print of a hand on it.

...

 **-Break-**

Ruby was massaging her temples after looking away from the TV. "Why… does she look so familiar?"

Sykes, who was sitting beside her, spoke. "Well, that's because she is your mother. And my wife."

'Ruby' looked at Sykes. "But... I have never seen her before, I think. And she doesn't really exist." She closed his eyes to try and think. "Right?"

"She… she…"

Markus suddenly opened her eyes. They were filled with boundless rage and anger towards Sykes. "THAT'S MY SISTER, YOU BASTARD!"

Sykes jolted. "R-really?"

Did he just stutter?

Sykes got off his stool. "... I didn't choose her specifically. I just asked for a woman who resembles you." He put his hands in front of him. "Calm down, son. I didn't marry your sister on purpose."

That probably wasn't the right thing to say.

Markus got off his stool and walked up to Sykes. With his new body, he had to look up quite a bit. He jabbed a finger into Sykes's chest.

" _ **Sykes…"**_

Sykes shivered. Markus could feel it. "S-son… d-did you just figure out killing intent?" He disappeared.

He appeared near the front entrance. "...I'm going to go now, bye!" He disappeared again. For good, this time.

…

 _An alleyway_

Sykes appeared in an alleyway, somewhere. The scent of saltwater was apparent.

He started to walk out, but every couple of steps he would flinch.

...

"...My bar…"

 **-Break-**

The mission team explored around the house and was unable to find anything so far. They have not entered either of the bedrooms yet.

They regrouped in front of a bedroom.

"Find anything, kids?" Qrow was leaning on the door.

"Nope! Only some more family photos." Ruby hefted her bag of stolen family photos behind her.

Qrow looked at his niece's collection of not her family's family photos oddly.

He shrugged. "Well, all we have left is the bedrooms. The good stuff should be in there."

He stepped off from the door and turned to open it. It opened easily, like it was freshly oiled.

Past the doorway was a quiet room, a small bed with blue sheets in the center and many children's toys littered all offer the floor. Everything was coated in dust.

Ruby ran in to the room and hunted for more family photos.

Qrow noticed that on the windowsill was multiple small bottles of… something. There was no label, but they were entirely clean of dust.

Qrow walked over and grabbed one. Opening the cap, he took a whiff.

It smelled like apples. Not alcohol.

Qrow was secretly disappointed at this reveal, but grabbed the rest of the bottles anyway. They looked important.

He turned around to see team RWBY messing with children's toys. Weiss too.

He cleared his throat. "Anything interesting?"

The girls quickly stood up. "No. Only children's toys." Yang answered.

"Okay." He held up the small bottle. "Do any of you girls know what this is?"

The girls looked closer before Blake's eyes flashed in recognition. "That… Markus drank it once and it did... something to him."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Something?"

Blake inspected the bottle further. "It made his aura flare up for a second."

"Aura? The note said he doesn't have aura." That was true.

Blake shrugged. "I'm not sure. But, he definitely could take hits as if he had aura. And he had used a semblance. The note must be wrong."

The girls nodded.

Qrow raised an eyebrow before putting the bottle back in his pocket with the others. He headed towards the door on the other side of the small hallway. "Okay. Just this room and we can go back. I need a drink." He drank from his flask. "A good drink."

He tried opening the door, but it would not budge. He tried harder, with no success.

So, he shoulder bashed it.

That seemed to work. The door caved in to reveal another bedroom with a large bed in the middle, this one with more mature bedding. There was a high shelf wrapping around the entire room on the walls, with hundreds of books organized on top of it. This room was also very dusty.

But Qrow noticed the desk on the left of the room first. In the center of the desk was a leather-bound journal, with a pen beside it. There was a candle holder to the left of it. The candle was half melted, probably not having been lit for a long time. The light coming in from the windows was cutting through the dust, making a couple _very_ visible rays of light land right onto the book.

That brought his attention directly to the book. "...Hey, kids. I found a journal, I think."

The kids looked over from perusing the various books to see Qrow approaching a desk with another book on it.

Qrow picked up the journal and blew on it to remove the dust and cobwebs from it. After a couple slaps and waves, the book looked good as new. Qrow flipped through it.

"Hmmm…" Qrow looked up. "There isn't too much in here. I'll get Oz to read it." He slid the book in his back pocket and took out the bottles of liquid. "If this has something to do with that kid's aura, I'm sure it can do something for his health. Let's go back."

…

Qrow left the cabin. Team RWBY followed, with Ruby and Yang carrying all the family photos and Blake and Weiss bringing all the books they could with them. Both said objects were all put into sacks.

Qrow looked back. "You kids look like looters. Why don't you set the house on fire, as well?"

Ruby looked embarrassed, Yang laughed. Weiss and Blake did not reply, they were too busy absorbing themselves in unfamiliar books.

Qrow looked forwards again. "Okay, kids, let's get a move on. The sun's going down."

…

The mission team began the long hike back, only made longer from the two sacks of stolen objects.

And there was Grimm this time.

…

 **-Break-**

 _A beach_

The sun was shining high in the sky.

A man with white hair was lying on a beach chair, the sea in front of him. A beach umbrella was blocking the sun from hitting him.

The man had all his clothes off, except for a pair of black swim trousers with white circles on it. Of course, did this not allow anyone to see his skin, as he was wrapped up in bandages like a mummy. Absolutely no spot was uncovered until his neck, but they were wrapped tightly enough that you could see his incredibly defined muscles.

His coat and other black clothing were neatly folded and placed on a towel next to him.

Also, there was a pair of white rabbit ears on top of his head.

He was in Menagerie.

...

Sykes's non-human ears twitched and he lifted his head up to look towards his left. A small distance away, you could see a port with many boardwalks over the beach, and continuing some distance into the sea. The port was bustling with people moving this way and that, and there was many small buildings and stands put both on the land near the port and on the boardwalk, standing on stilts over the ocean.

The beach was remarkably empty; there was only one other person visible aside from Sykes. And, said person was walking towards him.

...

Eventually, she reached him.

The woman had short hair and black cat ears with earrings. She was wearing a black hakama with the hips cut out, and white clothing of some kind underneath. She also wore a small black shirt missing its left sleeve, and it's right sleeve long.

She sat down next to Sykes, under the umbrella. "Not many people come out to enjoy the sea, especially now."

Sykes raised a covered eyebrow at her sudden trust before letting his head lean back again. "It's a shame. It really is a beautiful day." He reached an arm towards his coat and somehow retrieved a fold up chair from it.

...

After setting up the chair with a shake, he spoke again. "Please, sit." He never lifted his head.

The woman looked back. "You're very kind." She stood up and took the chair. "I could tell at first glance."

Maybe it was the rabbit ears. Rabbit faunus usually are kind, from what Sykes could gather from his short time in the city.

Sykes chuckled. "If I wasn't, I couldn't have gotten married."

The woman laughed lightly at that. "I'm sure she is a very happy woman."

Sykes didn't lift his head. "She's passed, I'm afraid."

The woman was surprised. "Oh… I'm sorry."

"Its fine. It was a long time ago." Sykes scratched his neck.

An awkward silence was beginning to form, but Sykes was able to nip in in the bud. "By the way, I'm Sykes." He lifted his head and offered a hand while smiling. A silly smile, that is.

The woman laughed after a moment and took it. "Kali Belladonna." Once their hands separated, she continued. "Married happily."

Sykes leaned his head back again. "Did I give that impression?"

Kali chuckled before changing the subject. "I'm surprised you haven't already known of me, Sykes. Are you new to Kuo Kuana?"

Sykes hummed. "Yep. First day in Menagerie. Got nothing to do for the next six days."

...

Kali looked back at her new friend. "Do you have a place to stay?"

…

Sykes's rabbit ears twitched and he looked up. "...Huh?"

 **-Break-**

 _Indeterminate_

Ruby was leaning on the bar counter, holding onto a beer bottle. The bar looked like hell. It was as if eighteen consecutive bar fights happened just a moment ago. Broken bottles, alcoholic liquids, and furniture were strewn all over the floor.

She looked away from the TV and swore under her breath. "...Why's he so good at that?"

'Ruby' drank a large amount of beer, before looking back at the TV.

…

She felt a breeze behind her, and so she turned and looked back

Sykes was standing there. With rabbit ears.

He opened his mouth, but Markus spoke first.

"Let me touch your ears."

Sykes's mouth clicked shut. After a moment of thinking, he talked. "Why?"

"I will forgive you if you let me." Markus always wanted to touch faunus ears. Velvet never let him, from the few times he had talked to her. And Blake hadn't revealed herself yet.

He's tried a lot of things in the last four months.

Sykes's mouth was stuck somewhere between open and closed.

…

…

...

Ruby was sitting on the shoulders of possibly the most powerful being in existence, playing with his rabbit ears.

Sykes was not happy.

"Please don't gnaw on my ears."

…

Eventually, Sykes spoke up again.

"You will resurrect soon. They found the bottles and should feed them to you, if they are smart."

'Ruby' released an ear from her mouth. "Finally. It was getting boring in here." She put the other ear in her mouth and started gnawing on it.

"There's a couple things you can do." Sykes ignored how one of his ears was being gnawed on. "You can play the amnesia card, for one. Or, you can come back in with a gag." The other ear slapped against Ruby's cheek. "What will you do?"

Markus stopped gnawing and started playing with the ears like they were joysticks. "Dunno. I'll decide when I arrive."

"Okay." Sykes looked at the TV. "By the way, you do not have any memories of your mother or of the house. Someone may ask about that. Got it?"

Markus nodded.

"Good."

…

Sykes talked again after a minute. "You won't wake up as Ruby, you know."

Markus started pulling the ears from the root. "Yeah. I felt like that would be the case."

"You 'felt'? Don't tell me you thought you had a chance to be Ruby when you woke up. That would ruin pretty much everything." An ear slapped her again.

'Ruby' shrugged. "I've decided to stop assuming when it comes to you. You _could_ do it, right?"

"I could." Sykes lifted an arm and looked at his wrist. "I should return to Menagerie. As for you, you should be waking up down there soon." Sykes tried his best to look up at Markus. "'Soon', as in now. Bye!"

Markus's disappeared before he could say anything.

…

Sykes touched his rabbit ears.

"Ouch."

 **-Break-**

Teams JNPR and RWBY were standing around a medical bed. Qrow went out to get Ozpin and left them there. He said that he may have something that could wake him up.

Penny and the general have gone somewhere for important business, and Sun has also left Beacon already.

…

The door clicked open, breaking the silence.

Ozpin, alone, walked into the room and stood beside the head of the bed, next to the medical equipment. He took out a small metal bottle and held it in front of him.

"I was informed that this was able to affect Mr. Quinn's aura, and that you students were aware of this?" He looked towards the students.

Team RWBY nodded, they already knew. Team JNPR looked at it closer, before remembering how Markus would drink one every so often, and that it caused his aura to flicker for a second.

Jaune spoke. "Yeah. He would drink it every so often and it would make his aura flare up."

Ozpin uncapped the bottle. "I see. We have already completed the needed tests, and it has been declared perfectly safe for consumption and medical use." He poured it to the IV drip bag.

Can you do that? Just pour it into the IV?

"And now, we hope for the best." He turned back to the students. "I would recommend for you all to retire for the night. It is past curfew, after all." He did not wait for any reactions before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

...

The teams waited for any kind of response from either the machines or Markus himself. Once they got none whatsoever, a couple of them sighed and prepared to leave.

Ruby got impatient and remembered something. "Oh yeah!" She turned to team JNPR. "Wanna see Markus's family photos? That guy is on there too."

The team got interested at the thought of Markus's father, and nodded.

"Okay! Come to my dorm, I got lots of them!" Ruby sped off down the hallway, and after leaving a final glance towards Markus, JNPR followed.

Blake picked up her new book and walked out without saying a word. It seems she has run out of care.

Weiss followed, now reminded of all the new and unknown books in their dorm. She was almost skipping in excitement.

That left Yang, who was seemingly thinking about something will staring at Markus's body.

…

After a while, she turned around and started walking away.

She flicked off the lights, and stepped through the door.

…

Or, she would have, if not for what felt like a hand grabbing her right shoulder, preventing her from moving any further.

Yang almost screamed and shot around.

She saw nothing. Only a dark room with just Markus's bed and body visible from moonlight, and a glowing green heartbeat monitor.

She kept scanning the room repeatedly; she was sure that someone had grabbed her shoulder.

After a couple seconds of careful observation, she slowly turned around again. She started to walk out the door.

Once her foot would have passed the boundary separating this room from the hallway. However, the hand came again. This time, on the other shoulder, and gripping much, _much_ harder.

She was half-expecting the hand to come again, but not on that shoulder.

Her heart jumped and she shot around again, this time with her fists up in front of her.

She saw nothing but a dark room. She yelled into the room to try and bait out any pranksters.

As expected, no one showed.

She started backing out slowly. She got a bit further past the door this time, but suddenly, she was shoved back into the room from behind.

Yang stumbled forwards, but spun around and landed in a crouch.

She was able to see the perpetrator, this time. She recognized her instantly.

"R-Ruby...?"

Now that she said it, she noticed that something was off with Ruby. Maybe it was her eye(s), or how she was smiling.

...

It hit her. This wasn't Ruby, it was a familiar _thing_ in the shape of Ruby.

Has she gone insane? Why is a character from her dream here?

...

'Ruby' lifted her arm up and pointed at the bed.

Yang understood what she was trying to say. She got angry at the thought.

"Why should I?! He is scum!" Yang glared at 'Ruby'.

'Ruby' frowned. In the hallway, many of the lights turned off.

Only three were left on. The one directly outside the room, and the two on either side of it.

Yang felt things happen in her mind. Not good things.

She felt even angrier, for one.

"I only _tolerated_ his presence because Ruby seemed to trust him! Why should I forgive him?!" She yelled at the figment of her imagination.

'Ruby's frown deepened. Another light turned off. Now, there was only two.

More changes happened in Yang's mind. Now, thoughts were getting brought to the front of her mind.

 _Scum._

 _He should just stay here._

 _Scum!_

 _I hope he dies._

They got progressively worse; Yang didn't like it at all. She gripped her fists tighter and tensed up in an attempt to stop the thoughts.

'Ruby' was looking at her with an odd emotion while frowning.

Was it impatience? Disappointment? She kept pointing at Markus.

Yang spoke through gritted teeth.

"No. I don't… I can't."

'Ruby's frown changed when she heard Yang's words. It was no longer a frustrated frown, but a sad one.

'Ruby' silently mouthed something. No words were said aloud, but Yang heard them anyways.

 _I see._

Another light turned off. Now, only the one above 'Ruby' was on. 'Ruby' coughed, hard, and held onto her stomach.

Yang's thoughts became much worse.

 _Bastard!_

 _He's weak, isn't he?_

 _It would only take one punch._

 _Kill him. It's easy._

 _No one would know._

She grabbed her head. She didn't want to think about that.

But, the thoughts would not stop.

Yang soon realized she couldn't control herself anymore.

…

…

Yang stood up.

 _Never forgive him._

She walked to Markus's bedside.

 _He is weak._

She looked at 'Ruby'. 'Ruby' was panting heavily and looked more pale than normal, as if she was injured. She was also leaning on the doorway.

Was that blood at the corner of her mouth?

She looked back at Markus's body.

 _Bastard!_

'Ruby' looked away. The last light above her was flickering.

...

Yang resisted her body's attempted movements, but her body was winning.

She exerted herself and managed to open her mouth.

"Markus…"

 _I hate you._

…

Yang raised an arm, and readied it beside her.

She tried to stop herself, but her body was not following her.

The light was flickering even more.

'Ruby' closed her eyes and fell on her bottom, still leaning on the door.

 _Kill him. It will only take one hit._

Yang was trembling. She was trying incredibly hard to lower her arm, but nothing was working.

A voice that wasn't hers entered her mind.

 _Don't you remember what he did?_

Yang was focusing too hard on holding herself back to be able to think about anything else. She thought anyway.

 _I remember._

But that caused her to lose her focus.

Her fist began to shoot towards Markus's head.

Yang forced her mouth open.

The voice in her head came again.

 _Don't forgive him. You can't._

"..."

Yang tried to speak, but only a breath came out.

The last light turned off.

Now, there was only the green monitor. Even the moonlight seemed to have disappeared.

She pulled her fist back incredibly hard, but she was only able to shift it slightly.

The fist brushed by his head bandages and landed on his pillow. The bed creaked and shook.

Against her will, her fist came back and prepared for a second strike.

Yang felt tired. Even if almost nothing was done, straining to stop her own fist took a lot from her. Mentally, that is. She stopped feeling her own body a little bit ago.

...

The voice came back.

 _Why resist? I thought you said you remember what he did?_

...

Yang's second strike was released.

...

 _I remember what he did._

...

Yang forced herself to speak.

…

...

"Thank you, Markus."

…

Yang shut her eyes.

Her fist got closer.

…

…

…

When nothing happened, Yang opened her eyes again.

She was stepping into the hallway, like she tried to do before.

All the lights in the hallway were on again, and it was almost blindingly bright.

...

The hand came like it would have at this point, but this time 'Ruby' only patted her shoulder.

She heard the figment's voice in her head.

 _Good job._

'Ruby' lightly pushed her out the door.

Yang stumbled out of the room. She did not try to stay standing, as her mind was all over the place. She fell onto the floor, w-sitting with her feet beside her.

...

After sitting for a moment, she looked back at the dark room.

'Ruby' was standing behind the doorway, smiling brightly at her. Yang wanted to ask a question, but the door started to close for no reason at all.

Yang tried to push the door back open, but the figment moved her mouth.

 _Bye!_

 _Click_

The door instantly became closed.

Yang stood up and tried the doorknob. It was locked.

After a little while of jiggling the doorknob, she released a massive sigh.

Yang didn't understand what happened, but she was glad that it was over. It was something she would rather not experience again.

She walked away from the room and towards the dorm.

She was tired, really tired. Mentally, and physically. She just wanted to sleep.

...

Nothing held her back.

 **-Break-**

 _Markus's medical room._

'Ruby' was sitting on the edge of Markus's bed and was swinging her legs, while humming a tune.

The lights in the room were turned on again.

…

Markus unclenched his buttocks.

"Sykes! She was like an inch away from killing me! Couldn't you have stopped it earlier?!"

The figment turned her head. "Yes. But then it's not as dramatic."

"Dramatic?! She had her eyes closed! Dramatic to who?!"

The figment looked at a seemingly random point in space. "Who knows."

…

The figment leaned back and laid on Markus's legs. Markus reacted to that in some way.

"So, you're back now. What are you going to do?"

Markus thought. He really hasn't decided yet.

The figment seemed to read his mind and started speaking. "Okay. I'll choose for you."

The figment in the shape of Ruby shifted her position and was now lying parallel to Markus, but over the sheets.

Markus shifted slightly.

The figment pulled herself up and was now resting her head on the pillow with Markus.

Markus shifted more.

The figment spoke while right next to Markus. "Okay. Here what you will do. Go out during the night and reminisce on a balcony or something. It will make you look cool. Chances are no one will see you, but self esteem is important, too." The figment scooted closer to Markus.

Markus shifted even more.

"Put your clothes on but leave your head bandages on. You having the ability to see through them should last forever. I granted that ability you a little while ago. Remember?" Markus did not reply.

The figment scooted even closer. Her nose was now less than an inch from Markus's head. She breathed lightly on his uncovered neck.

Markus snapped. "Why!? Why are you like this right now!" He started to get out of the bed, but he then realized he had nothing but a hospital gown on. So, he stayed where he was.

The figment laughed cutely. "You hurt my rabbit ears. Revenge."

Markus could not form a response to that.

…

"I will decorate your medical room with many household objects. When your friends check in with you in the morning, make use of them as if you have lived here for years."

The figment was sitting on the edge of bed, swinging her legs again. Markus was standing on the opposite side of the bed, putting on clothes slowly and glancing at Sykes every so often.

It was strange dressing with the figment in the room, but Markus was a real man.

"What are you so afraid of? I'm blind, remember?"

Markus snapped back. "Not in this form, you're not. And I don't believe for a second that you really can't see in your main form." Markus glaced at Sykes. "Turn around!"

The figment shrugged. "Okay, you win. Wanna know how it works?"

"NO!"

The figment slumped. "Okay."

…

Markus looked like some sort of humanoid monster. He had his black coat and other usual clothes on, but he had his entire head wrapped up tight in bandages.

The figment chucked when she looked at him. "You know, you are like the opposite of me. My whole body has bandages until my head, but your head is wrapped up and your body not." The figment chucked again. "Like father, like son."

Markus did not seem to find this as funny. "Ha. Ha."

"I think you look better with your face covered."

Markus coughed at this.

"Okay, fine. I think you look cool." The figment shrugged. "You know what to do."

Sykes put his hand on Markus's shoulder. In his current form he had to go on tippy toes, but it got the point across.

"Good luck, son. The fun events will be happening soon, so be prepared." Sykes took his hand off and smirked. "Now come and give your father a hug." The figment held her arms wide open.

...

Markus looked down at his father.

"No."

Markus left the room.

…

Sykes sighed.

He looked at his wrist. It's time to return to Menagerie.

"I guess it would be odd if my after-dinner walk was over eight hours long."

...

The figment disappeared.

 _ **-End of Part 2-**_

* * *

 **Poor Ruby.**


	12. Twelve - The Changing Plan

**I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

 _Beacon_

Markus was walking back to his medical room after an enjoyable hour doing nothing but staring at the moon on a balcony.

He was sure that he looked incredibly cool from a third person's perspective. Unfortunately, no one showed up. Markus didn't mind, the thought of how cool he looked was enough.

Markus's self esteem was largely boosted.

There was almost a skip in his step.

…

He arrived at the door to his medical room. Sykes said he would decorate it, for some reason.

He opened the door, and stepped in to look around.

He froze.

...

 _Wow._

"It's a lot bigger on the inside, isn't it?" He spoke to nobody in particular.

(It actually wasn't. Sykes just happens to be rather skilled in interior design.)

Were the walls always this color?

Were the lights always this modern?

It looked more like a one-room apartment than a medical room.

In fact, it didn't look like a medical room at all. Even the tile floor was replaced with hardwood.

…

He took a step forwards, but his foot collided with a hard metal object. He looked down at his feet, and saw a large metallic colored box. On the box was a pink sticky note with words written on it.

He picked up the note and read it.

…

The note combusted for no apparent reason.

Markus smiled underneath his bandages and rubbed his hands together.

 _This is going to be great._

 **-Break-**

 _The morning_

Both of the freshmen teams were walking down the hallways leading to medical room 318.

All of them had time to think, and concluded that the strange liquid that he would drink must be able to heal him if it did something to his aura. Call it a stretch, but more hope is not a bad thing (usually).

…

Now that they were getting close, they could hear muffled sounds coming from further ahead. Everyone brightened up when they figured out which room it was coming from.

Nora and Ruby shot to in front of the door. Before anyone else could catch up, they had already tried the doorknob. It was locked.

Yang seemed slightly shocked at that, but no one noticed. By now, the rest of the group were standing right outside the door.

Nora knocked on the door loudly. "Hey! Markus, open up!"

After a moment, a familiar voice came from inside. "...Huh? Oh, I'm coming."

Markus was okay. Nora was so excited she hopped. Everyone was smiling at the great news, even Weiss.

Weiss may have not interacted too much with Markus, but if anyone died, that would not be good.

The tiny smile she had on her face was immediately wiped away when the door opened, though. Even Nora paused in shock.

Because, there was some sort of monster on the other side of the doorway.

It was wearing a black t-shirt with strange but familiar silhouettes on it and heart boxers. It was also wearing a pink apron on the incorrect side of the body.

It's head was completely wrapped in bandages, and where the mouth should have been had two things sticking out of either side. On the right, an unlit cigarette. On the left, a bendy straw that led to nowhere.

On top of the monster's head was a pair of black bunny ears. They were costume ones; you could see the black hairband on the sides of the monster's head contrast with the white bandages.

It was like a physical amalgamation of _what the hell._

The monster moved its arms. One came up, they noticed that it was holding a glass bottle, and brought the bottle to the bendy straw.

The other arm came up to the monster's face and lifted a bandage blocking one of its eyes.

An eye peered at them from the darkness.

 _Slurp_ "...Oh. It's you guys." The monster took the cigarette out of its mouth and slid it into its boxers while moving its hand down.

The bandage snapped back down when it removed its hand. The monster turned around and began to walk back in.

"Come in, I was just making pancakes." The monster looked back at a specific person. "For me. Only."

 _Slurp_

…

The mention of that word was able to snap Nora out of her silence.

She ran towards Markus and was about to envelop him in a crushing hug, but remembered his bandages and refrained for doing so. "Marky? Are you feeling okay?"

The monster walked to the stove that was definitely not here yesterday and plopped his frying pan on it. "I'm okay. I could use another bottle, but I'm okay." It was unknown what bottle he was referring to.

Then, Nora froze again. This time, it was because her immediate surroundings registered within her.

Okay, let's begin:

Olive painted walls, hardwood flooring, white plaster roof?

A bed and sofa in the corner, set up in a way that you would have to climb over the sofa to enter the bed?

A large tv on the wall, with a small table and chairs underneath?

A completely new wall that separates the room into the living area and the kitchen?

Updated lighting?

…

 _I don't remember this being here._

The monster already finished frying a couple pancakes. "Yes. I redecorated the room." Did she say that out loud?

…

Nora was in the kitchen area with the monster, who the others recently discovered was actually Markus.

A slap that sounded like a spatula colliding with a hand would ring out every so often.

The others were in the living area.

...

Team RWBY and JNPR minus Nora were horrified. They were all sitting on the sofa and bed, looking around at the posters on the wall.

They were on the posters.

Tens of team RWBY and JNPR posters were stuck onto the walls. Some focused specifically on one member of the team. Some included all of them in some activity.

Some were even bordering on obscene. That included the males as well.

But that was not all.

There was a couple bookshelves in the corner of the room, but there were no books on them.

Instead, small statues, figurines and even plushies were all over the shelf.

These were also all based on them. A good portion of the statues were almost naughty as well.

Behind them, there was a white body-length pillow lying on the bed. Yang widened her eyes when she recognized what kind of product that was. Putting one and one together, she prepared for the worst. She leaned towards Ruby, who did not think much of it.

...

Ruby hesitantly and anxiously flipped over the pillow over after her sister told her what it was.

There was most definitely a figure on the pillow. Thankfully though, it was no one they recognized. Everyone let out a breath they didn't know they held.

Things were already creepy in here, but that would have smashed the limit.

…

While in her shock, Blake noticed how some of the merchandising with her in it showed her faunus ears. She would have to ask about it later.

Markus walked towards the table in front of them and let down a plate of many pancakes. He had to push Nora away while walking, but when Nora caught sight of the room she stopped trying.

He put down his plate on the table and sat on one of the chairs. He grabbed a red fork that was already on the table and took his first bite, pulling down the bandages blocking his mouth to under his chin.

While chewing, he looked at the furiously twitching - and frankly, scared - teens.

He swallowed and opened his mouth.

"So, what's up?"

…

Weiss's inner rage was released. "What's up? What's up?!" She hopped off the sofa and jabbed a finger in Markus's chest. "What's up with this room!" She then noticed that the silhouettes on the t shirt were actually of her team, with the letters RWBY underneath. It did not help her mood.

Markus took another bite. "What do you mean?"

Weiss gestured towards the walls, bookshelves and his shirt. "Everything! Who gave you permission to use m-" Weiss looked around. "... our bodies like this?!"

Markus raised a finger. "First of all, what you see here," Markus gestured in a similar manner to Weiss. "Is only what I let you see." Markus then mumbled something under his breath.

Blake twitched.

"Second," Markus stood up and walked to his main clothes, which were laying in a pile on the the ground. He reached into his coat and pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper.

He handed the paper to Weiss before sitting back down. "Your team leader allowed it."

Weiss was going to retort, but instead furiously read through the paper. She paled more and more as she read, and eventually got to the bottom, where a messy signature written in a blue pen was.

Weiss froze.

She looked up finally and glared at Ruby. "What did you do?!"

Ruby waved her hands in front of her. "I-I don't remember signing anything! It might be fake!" She really didn't. She doesn't even have a real signature yet.

Weiss looked at her leader's body language before shifting her glare back to Markus. She opened her mouth but Markus spoke first.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, I recorded it." He slid his scroll out of his pocket and tapped on it a few times before laying on the table. An audio file began to play.

...

They heard a door creak open.

A few light footsteps.

The sound of a paper being flipped out.

Markus's voice came through the scroll.

 _Hey, red girl. I need you to sign this._

…

 _Hey, red girl._ His voice was a little louder, this time.

A voice higher in pitch came out. It was Ruby's. And it sounded dead tired.

 _...What…? …Yang?_

 _No. I am not your sister._

Ruby did not seem to hear.

… _Let me… go back… to sleep… Yang…_

 _I'm not your sister. But I will let you sleep if you write your name on this._

The sound of paper flipping.

 _Right here. Here's a pen._

A cute yawn.

 _Ooookayyyyy…_

The sloppy sound of scribbling.

After a moment of silence, Markus spoke.

 _Thanks, red girl. You can go back to sleep now._

The sound of a bed creaking and ropes tightening.

No more noise was recorded, but there still was the light static that came even if you recorded no noise at all.

…

 _Actually, red girl. Can you tell your white-colored teammate to let go of my legs?_

There was no reply.

 _Hey, don't be like that._

The recording ended for real there.

…

Markus looked at Weiss and pointed to a bruise on his thigh.

"You have a very powerful grip, white girl."

Team RWBY were all pale. For differing reasons.

Weiss was mortified that she hung on to someone's legs in her sleep. Ruby was embarrassed at her half conscious actions. And Yang and Blake were fearful of the fact that Markus snuck into their dorm room and no one knew.

Jaune was snickering at their misfortune. What a chucklehead.

"That was about six hours ago, by the way. First thing I did when I woke up. Then I got to work making merch." Of course, this was false. It was all an intricate scam fabricated by Sykes. "I did it to you too, Jaune."

Jaune shut his mouth.

Markus grabbed the bottle with the bendy straw in it.

 _Slurp_

…

 _RRIPP_

Weiss tore the document in her hands right in half.

She sent a twitching smile at Markus.

Markus swallowed his bite. He then stood up and walked to his coat. Reaching in, he took out eight pieces of paper.

"I felt like you would do that. So, I also got individual consent from each and every one of you."

He fanned out the papers so you could see the lower half of them. Every single one had a different thumbprint stamped on the bottom. He pointed at their hands.

"Look, the ink is still there."

After a quick glance at their slightly purple thumbs, everyone paled considerably.

Markus walked back to his chair and handed the papers to Weiss.

"Rip them if you want, those aren't even the originals."

…

Weiss was standing over the remains of eight papers and pointed at Markus. She stuttered. "T-those weren't signed with our c-consent!"

Markus sent a sideways glance at Weiss.

"Prove it."

…

Something snapped.

…

…

…

"W-white girl, I c-can't breathe."

 **-Break-**

A white haired faunus with rabbit ears was relaxing on a balcony, a heavy and old looking book in his hand.

After reading a couple lines from the book, he closed it and slipped it in his coat.

"This is boring." He hasn't done anything remotely interesting for the last day. That is too long of a period to not have done anything.

Essentially, it's time to leave.

Sykes stood up and walked into the house.

…

Later, Sykes was standing at the front entrance of the Belladonna household. He had a black bookbag that did not exist earlier slung over his shoulder.

He was currently saying various goodbyes to the two inhabitants of the house. In the one day he has been here, he has become quite good friends with them. Sykes just happens to be rather skilled in interpersonal communication.

"If you are ever in Menagerie, know that you are always welcome here, Sykes." Kali told him. Ghira, her husband and the last giant on Remnant nodded.

Always welcome here?

How exciting.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Sykes flinched slightly. "Oh yeah, I've got something for both of you."

Sykes reached into his bookbag and took out a square container, like the ones truffles would be stored in.

He held it out to them. "A couple chocolates, handmade by me." When the box was taken from his hands, he continued. "I would eat them quickly, they won't last too long. Especially in a climate like this."

Sykes started walking away after looking at his wrist. "I should leave now. Goodbye, Ghira, Kali. I'll be sure to return someday." He kept a hand in the air while he was walking.

They said something, but Sykes didn't really care.

...

When he left their and any other people's view, he stopped and looked around.

"So, he's come to Menagerie." Sykes let out a small smile. "Interesting."

Sykes disappeared.

…

On a cliff overlooking the ocean, Sykes reappeared. He looked around, and both the backpack on his shoulder and the rabbit ears on his head disappeared from existence.

"...Mistral, huh?" Sykes stretched his arms over his head. "Let's see what surprises you hold."

Before he started moving, he took out a mirror from his coat and looked into it. He smiled in many different ways until he found the unnerving one that he always had plastered on his face back when he was in Vale.

He complimented the handsome devil in the mirror.

Sykes slipped the mirror back in his coat and began wandering in no specific direction, but away from the ocean. Now, with the smile on.

He has four days before he has to return to Vale. Hopefully something interesting happens.

 **-Break-**

Markus was rubbing his neck while glaring at Weiss through his bandages.

"What the hell, white girl? I almost passed out! Are you trying to kill me?"

Weiss was being held back by her team. "Yes. Yes I am." She glared at Markus with twice the force. "And I have a name, you know."

Markus opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by another's voice.

"Okay, that's enough!" Pyrrha was frustrated at the time wasted on Weiss choking out Markus. While she was distressed by all the merchandise in the room, she was already used to things like this and she had things she wanted to talk to Markus about. Namely, his father.

"Markus. A couple days ago, we fought your father."

Everyone stopped looking around to see Markus shoot his head towards Pyrrha so quickly they could hear a crack. "Really?!"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes."

Markus stared at Pyrrha for a moment.

Once satisfied with his scrutiny, he then fell back in his chair, mirthfully chuckling, eventually becoming laughter. The laughter didn't cease for at least a minute.

...

Eventually, he stopped. Not because he wanted to, but because he would probably asphyxiate if he kept laughing.

He lifted a finger to wipe a moist part of his bandages near the eyes. It did absolutely nothing but slightly wetten his finger, but the idea behind the gesture was obvious.

" _Woo_ … So!" He slapped his knees. "How'd it go? Ten seconds or five seconds? Who lasted the longest?" The pure excitement being released from his body was almost felt by the students.

Markus felt like a child finally revealing a toy that he's been keeping secret for years. Sykes was such a fun guy, he couldn't wait until he could share the joy with them.

…

That was sarcasm.

The teams were slightly put off by the lack of concern coming from Markus, but Pyrrha decided to humor him anyway.

"Umm… it took about a minute, and… I was the last one. I think." Pyrrha told him.

Markus choked on his last bite of cold pancake "A-a _whole_ minute?! Really!? Did you record it?" He was able to keep his food down in the end.

Pyrrha was going to deny it, but the front door opened before she could talk.

From the open door, a man in a dark green suit walked in. Professor Ozpin.

He spoke. "Good morning, Mr. Quinn. It is good that you have woken up. Someone wishes to meet with… you." Even someone like Ozpin had to do a double take once he noticed the decorations in the room. " _Ahem_. Immediately, in my office. You may bring your fellow students."

…

The students looked at Markus. He wasn't moving at all and he looked spaced out.

Eventually, he snapped back to reality.

"Okay." Markus stood up. That action allowed the students to remember that he was wearing nothing but boxers and a team RWBY t shirt. The apron was removed when he left the kitchen area. "Let's go."

Oh yeah, the bandages and rabbit ears too.

They tried to stop him to get him to put on some pants or take off the ears, but he managed to elude them.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at his student's attire, but did not comment on it. "Follow me, Mr. Quinn."

Markus walked with Ozpin, ducking and jumping to avoid his fellow students' attempts to make him wear pants or remove the ears.

 **-Break-**

One awkward elevator ride later, the other students and I were at Ozpin's office.

It was lacking any chairs, as ever.

All three other members of Ozpin's brotherhood were standing behind the desk, and Ozpin soon joined them. If I were to guess, Ozpin made everyone show up so General Ironwood would not do anything too rash. He probably wants me locked up in a cell.

Sykes told me that if I get locked up, he will quite literally burn the world to ashes. So, that's nice.

The members of the brotherhood looked surprised at my current appearance. Qrow chuckled.

A wrapped head, t-shirt with other students on it, heart boxers, and bunny ears?

I really didn't understand why Sykes told me to wear this. At least it's comfortable.

…

I talked first.

"There's still no chairs in here, professor."

Ozpin ignored me. Smart move. Instead, Ironwood talked.

"I am James Ironwood, general of the Atlesian Military. I have a couple of questions for you, Markus."

I looked up at the general. He looked like he was having trouble finding where my eyes were.

"Is it about my father?" I crossed my arms.

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" Ironwood looked right back once he found my eyes.

"No. Not at all." I sat cross legged on the ground. "Shoot."

Sykes sounded extremely serious when he gave me directions for this part. He even gave me a script, and he said it will reveal what I should say when it is asked.

I'm not sure why exactly, but he seemed adamant on me following exactly what he says when he says it. I, having no reason to refuse, decided to go ahead and do whatever he wants.

…

Well, let's begin. The eight from teams JNPR and RWBY are listening too, so things should be interesting.

 **-Break-**

 _Later_

A man was standing in a field, the grass high enough to cover everything up to his thighs.

He was missing something, but that did not seem to affect him in any way.

…

Sykes lifted his left arm up and looked at his bloody hand. The glove was soaked, and was turning a dark red. A drop of blood would flow from somewhere and drip off one of his fingers every so often. It was unknown whose blood this was. Or if Sykes bleeds at all.

There was also some blood splattered on the sleeve, having most of it near the end and decreasing as it went up. Other than that, Sykes was completely stainless.

Sykes was smiling in his special way, and nodded. His head tilted down towards his feet.

"Thank you. That was thoroughly enjoyable."

Sykes lifted up a foot. "But, all good things must come to an end. Goodbye."

Sykes's foot stomped down.

 _CRAK_

Something broke.

…

Sykes looked at the wrist of his bloody arm.

It's been four days, and it's time to return to Vale.

He did not bother to clean his sleeve before disappearing.

 **-Break-**

Emerald and Mercury were walking in a warehouse. There was White Fang goons sorting Dust crates and doing some training exercises around them.

…

Eventually, they reached a small clearing in the maze of shipping containers and bullheads. In it was a table, a map, and some chairs.

Oh, and a cabin.

They saw Roman on the ground, doing push-ups.

…

Emerald broke the silence. "What are you doing?"

Roman looked to the side, but did not stop his exercise. "Oh! It's the kids. Where have you been all day? I've been worried."

Mercury spoke up. He sounded irritated. "You failed, Roman. The animal ran away."

Emerald and Mercury found Tukson's Book Trade and planned on taking care of him earlier today. When they entered, however, they found no traces of Tukson.

In other words, he escaped.

Roman frowned, but kept doing push-ups. He was going to say something, but was interrupted by a new woman's voice.

"I'm disappointed, Roman." A woman stepped onto an electric lift, lowering her to floor level. "You had so, so much time to eliminate the target. But, you failed to. Care to explain why?"

Emerald got excited once the woman got close. "Cinder!"

Roman shuddered and almost fell onto his face. Deciding to stop his exercise, he stood up straight and dusted his coat for any dust. "Hey, hey, blame the numbnut! He fattened me up with his unlimited supply of potato chips. I doubt I could have taken care of the animal even if I tried."

"But, no worries! I'm just about back to one hundred, now." Roman flexed.

Cinder seemed to think for a moment before looking around. "Speaking about that man, where is he, Roman?"

"No clue. I left him with ten huntsmen brats. Maybe he's rotting in a cell. Maybe he's dead." Roman shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me either way. Only good part about him is his movies."

Mercury leaned towards Emerald to whisper her a question. She shrugged and shook her head.

Cinder opened her mouth, but was interrupted.

"Oh, bossssssssssss~!" A man came from nowhere and attempted to tackle Roman. "I'm~ back~!"

Roman sidestepped. The man fell onto the ground and slid a couple feet.

When Roman recognized the man, he grabbed onto his head. "...Just what I needed."

Sykes stood up. "Did you miss me, boss? You're looking thinner." Sykes spread his arms. Something was off about the gesture, and Roman picked up on it immediately.

"Uh… numbnut. What happened to your arm?" Roman pointed at Sykes's right arm. Or, the empty space where a right arm should have been. Everything, including the coat, was missing past his right shoulder.

Sykes's smile froze when he looked at the stump on his right side. "Oh! My arm!" He grabbed onto the stump and fell to his knees. "M-MY ARM!" Sykes stopped smiling, incredibly.

Sykes sneezed.

He stood back up. "Oh, I remember." He frowned and sounded frustrated. "You see, boss, there was some brats I came across on my way here, and their massive egos really pissed me off. So, I told them I could beat them with one arm." He spread his arm again and began smiling creepily again. "It worked pretty well."

It was at this point that everyone in the immediate area noticed how the one sleeve he has on his coat was covered in blood, and would drip every so often. They also noticed that his right boot was completely bloodsoaked.

"You… cut off your own arm...?" Roman knew something was wrong with Sykes, but not to this extent.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess I did." Sykes reached into his coat and produced a prescription bottle. He noticed Cinder standing near him while trying to open the bottle with his teeth. "Oh. It's you, ma'am. What are you here for?" He was able to mumble out.

 _Pop_

Sykes was able to get the child-proof cap off after a bit of trouble, and a couple small pills with checkered squares on them fell on the ground. He reached down to grab a few and shoved them in his mouth after slipping the prescription back in his coat.

Cinder was going to speak, but was interrupted, again. This time by a strange bubbling sound.

She noticed that Sykes's stump was bubbling, as if it was boiling water, except pitch black. Suddenly, the bubbles rapidly expanded into the general shape of an arm, throwing some black liquid onto the ground. The strange liquid stopped bubbling and shrunk, leaving a black sleeve with a white stripe on it and an gloved hand with a hollow white circle on the back.

As if it was a living creature, the splotches of black liquid thrown on the ground screeched and attempted to slide to Sykes's feet. He stomped on them, stopping the noise and the liquid's movement.

Sykes stretched his new arm over his head, allowing a few cracks and pops to ring out.

The others were dumbfounded and a little bit pale. "H-hey, numbnut, what was that?" Roman asked Sykes.

Sykes let down his arms and tilted his head. "It was a healing pill. What did you think?"

Before Roman could reply to that, Sykes suddenly disappeared.

"So, who are these kids?" A voice suddenly came from behind Emerald and Mercury. They shot around and saw Sykes standing there, pointing a finger at each of them. They unconsciously took a step back from the monster.

They also tensed and prepared for battle.

Cinder cleared her throat once she noticed their tensing. "Those two are my… underlings, I suppose. It would be beneficial if you remember them from now on. The grey one is Mercury and the green one is Emerald."

Sykes leaned forward and hummed in thought. "I see."

Sykes stared at them for a while, before bowing in his own special way. "I am Sykes, it is a pleasure."

When he stood straight again, he looked towards Mercury and then pointed at him. "I like the hair. You're very handsome."

Mercury touched his hair.

Sykes casually strolled to a spot diagonally behind Roman. He crossed his arms.

"You can get back to whatever you were doing now. I'm done."

…

Roman chuckled. He loved how Sykes could confuse just about anyone. That, and his movies. He also liked his potato chips quite a bit, even if he would never admit it.

While Roman went on a tangent in his mind, Mercury and Emerald really didn't know what to do. So, they looked to Cinder for any sign of instruction.

She broke the silence, after a little while. "Well. It is good to see you again, Sykes."

Sykes has only been becoming more and more interesting to Cinder. She has been keeping an eye on his actions for the last four months, and discovered more of his personality and his skill in crime that may even surpass Roman's. With his level of skill and strange atmosphere, it should not be long until he catches _her_ attention.

So, she did not mind him listening in.

…

…

…

"We're proceeding to phase two." Cinder began to saunter away, flanked by both Emerald and Mercury.

She was only able to get so far before she heard an offhand comment from Sykes, directed to Roman.

"You think she gets inner thigh rashes? Walking like that must chafe her legs."

Cinder almost stumbled. Mercury and Emerald didn't hear.

Roman laughed out loud. "No clue, numbnut. No clue." Roman turned around and put an arm around Sykes, turning him around as well.

"Well, we have lots of work to do. Let's get started."

Roman and Sykes disappeared around a corner.

* * *

 **That was honestly the first thing I thought when I saw that scene.**


	13. Thirteen - The Changing Views

**Thanks.**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Markus walked out of the elevator, hands behind his head in the standard anime elbows up pose. His eyes were slightly red.

He was done with the interrogation, and Ironwood and the gang were probably now asking questions to the other students. Along with registering the information that Markus told him.

Sykes's script really was completely unremarkable. Nothing absolutely breathtaking; he barely described the true strength of his father. No incredible reveals that would shake the characters to the core.

Well, even if he told them he could destroy the world with a sneeze he doubted they would believe him.

How boring.

Well, at least it ended with a bang.

…

Markus looked down the hallway, and began to walk to the cafeteria. The interrogation took a while; it was already lunch. He was thinking about the best part of the interview.

 **-Break-**

 _Earlier_

 _Abridged version_

…

"No. I have no memories of my mother. Not even what she looks like."

Qrow spoke instead of Ironwood.

"What are you talking about?" He sounded incredibly suspicious. "You have all sorts of family photos in your house."

"Family photos?" Markus tilted his head. "Ah. I thought it was odd that Ruby had multiple framed photos of my father and a woman I don't know. So those were family photos."

Behind him, Ruby whispered to her sister. Yang shrugged.

Qrow heard it, though.

"Ruby showed you her photos?" Qrow was suspicious again. This time, for different reasons.

"No." Markus shook his head. "I saw them myself. They were in team RWBY's dorm room."

Qrow narrowed his eyes at Markus. "And… when was this?"

Markus tilted his head again. "About… ten hours ago?"

Qrow looked at his watch before snapping his head up, and asking a question in a tone of voice that could be described as deadly.

"And… _why_ , exactly, were you in team RWBY's dorm room at _two in the morning_?"

Five months ago, Markus would have been horrified at the killing intent coming from his voice. But it was nothing compared to Sykes's. Maybe his immunity has gone up.

Behind Markus, Jaune clapped a hand over his mouth in an attempt to stop any leaking giggles. The rest of his team were also attempting to hold back a smile.

Team RWBY were getting shivers at the direction this conversation was going. Except for Ruby, who did not understand. All he did was get their thumbprints, right?

A massive smile was forming behind the bandages on Markus's face. He really is the master troll. It is unknown who 'he' refers to.

Markus stood up and crossed his arms.

"Wouldn't you like to know, old man."

Markus heard a giggle come from behind him. Jaune was now hunched over and trembling madly. Pyrrha put a hand over her mouth in a graceful manner. Ren was smiling, even if his eyes were closed. And Nora was whispering something to Ren. Her face was hidden.

The older girls of team RWBY were glaring at Markus from behind. The collective force of these superpowered teenage females' glare would probably be able to melt steel. Ruby was only barely beginning to understand what may be going on; a blush was beginning to form on her face.

 _Don't make it worse, Markus._

A thought was forced into Markus's head. It wasn't from Sykes; he could tell. This one had a very poorly hidden threat behind it. Sykes does not make hidden threats. His are very overt.

But, who said that then?

 _These girls are strangely powerful._

This one was from Sykes.

Markus was able to trace the first thought to the most likely suspects using context clues and intuition. The smile hidden behind his bandages expanded to a size that threatened to explode.

Qrow spoke after a while, venom almost pouring from his mouth.

" _Yes_. I would."

…

The air was so thick with tension that you could probably swim in it. Markus and Qrow were at the epicenter of said air, with Qrow glaring and Markus looking back.

Not even Ozpin dared to speak. Glynda and Ironwood were staring, wide-eyed. Jaune's team also turned silent and looked, even if they still felt pits in their guts.

Now even Ruby was glaring. And it was a scary thing. Not cute at all.

…

Markus saw the metaphorical dynamite in front of him. He really wanted to detonate it. Even if he dies due to his (probably poor) choices, it would be worth it. Metaphorically.

...

 _Please, Sykes. Let me blow it up. Guide me._

…

Sykes's voice came through.

 _Fine._

Markus received his directions.

His smile increased to record levels. Just thinking about it made his heart jump.

In joy? In fear? Excitement?

Who knows.

…

In reality, Markus slowly took out his scroll from inside his boxers, despite his legs of jelly.

He had trouble talking normally, but managed to do it.

"...I recorded the whole affair. Don't worry, Ruby and the other girls were _very_ cooperative. Want to see?"

...

Well, you can't say Markus is a liar.

…

Invisible lightning struck the room.

Markus was sure a couple jaws dropped.

Qrow became absolutely still.

…

He charged at Markus.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Markus heard the sound of multiple bodies collapsing onto the ground and also many footsteps behind him.

The entire team JNPR was unable to hold back their laughter and collapsed. The entire team RWBY was charging at Markus from behind.

Markus's lifespan was reduced on this day.

…

Even so; Markus never felt happier.

 **-Break-**

Somewhere, at some point in time, Sykes grabbed onto his head.

…

He got back to whatever he was doing.

 **-Break-**

Markus was sprawled on the ground.

Qrow was being held back by the combined forces of Ironwood and Ozpin. Team JNPR were holding back their friends on team RWBY.

…

They… took _turns_ choking Markus out. The others who were not choking him were holding down his arms and legs, until their turns came.

Ruby choked him too. She didn't hesitate in the slightest.

And she was _smiling_.

She's too young to awaken her cruel streak, right?

It broke Markus's heart. She shattered it into unfixable pieces.

…

Glynda spoke up after straightening her glasses.

"...Mr. Quinn. Are you okay?"

She got no reply.

Blake spoke. "Maybe he's dead."

It would probably have been her easiest kill. Physically and emotionally.

Blake twitched and looked at Markus.

Weiss snorted and pointed her nose up. "God! I hope so!"

Yang was stretching her hands open and closed. She probably wanted to do it again.

Ruby was able to disperse her anger, although she was not sorry. She noticed something and looked closer at Markus's bandaged face.

The entire front of his face was soaked in a clear liquid. It definitely wasn't blood. Spit?

She focused her ears and was able to hear a few short breaths and sniffling coming from his head. A quiet hiccup would sound out every so often, as well.

…

She spoke up. "Um... I think he's crying."

The others looked at Markus's body and saw the same sight. Blake noticed a bit ago.

…

After a little bit of time passed and the red marks on Markus's neck faded slightly, he spoke.

It was the voice of a broken man. A betrayed and torn apart man. One that once believed and loved his ideals, but those ideals were torn from his arms, suddenly, and without any room for resistance.

 _Hic_ "...You broke my heart, red girl." _Sniff_

The wretched voice continued.

"How could… _hic… you_ be so cruel…?"

…

Markus's body twitched, as he stood up slowly.

He slowly hobbled to a corner of the office, once successful in standing up. He tore off most of the bandages covering his face and reached into his boxers to take out a tissue.

Markus literally spent the next five minutes blowing his nose. As in, five minutes _straight_. Blowing his nose _once_.

He also took the glass bottle that he was drinking from earlier out, and drank the rest in one gulp. Now, they could smell it. It was alcohol.

The rest of his bandages fell off, and his head was once again revealed to the world.

…

Markus limped to the elevator.

"I'm… going to eat lunch…"

The most depressing voice in the world entered their ears.

They doubted their eyes. Was it just them, or was everything in a five foot radius of Markus completely grayscale?

Ozpin coughed. "...You are dismissed, Mr. Quinn."

 **-Break-**

And here we are.

Markus was able to calm down a little on the elevator. Even if it was mostly an act, he could not deny that he was shook to the core by Ruby's actions. It went against possibly everything he knew.

Well, it was not all bad. Ruby had to sit on his chest to choke him. The other girls and Qrow kneeled near him to do the same thing.

Markus got shivers thinking about that feeling.

Through the script, Sykes reminded him that mentally, she is six years younger than him. And that he would not allow romance.

He had his birthday in the last four months and became 21 years old (mentally).

Markus managed to become even more depressed.

…

Markus sat down in the cafeteria, a tray of whatever in front of him. The cafeteria was remarkably empty; after all, it was still on the break between semesters. There was maybe two people other than him.

…

In the middle of his comfort eating, four shadows surrounded him and sat next to and across from him.

Markus looked up with still-red eyes.

He looked back down. Why do they always come to him while he is eating?

"What's got you down, my dear junior?" Coco spoke up when she noticed his teary eyes.

...

"... Don't call me junior."

 _I'm older than you._

"Not unless you tell your favorite seniors what's wrong."

…

Okay, fine.

"Okay, Coca-Cola." Markus made up a strangely familiar name to spite Coco.

She frowned.

"Imagine this." Markus put his hands up like he has given up. "Think of the cutest, sweetest, most innocent girl you know." Markus paused for a second. "Thinking about it? Good."

"Now imagine said girl choking you to death, and _enjoying_ it." Markus lifted his head. "Now, imagine that being one of the first things you see after you wake up from a week-long coma."

Coco was quiet, and shot a glance to Velvet, who was also quiet and in thought. The males of the team weren't listening.

Coco talked to Markus again after a moment of thought. "Okay. But what's that got to do with anything?"

Markus lifted his head further, allowing the girls to see the red marks on his neck. He pointed to a specific mark, one that was noticeably smaller than the rest.

Strangely, while the other marks were almost completely faded away, this specific one was still bright. Maybe the emotional trauma was inhibiting the healing process.

Velvet and Coco's faces blanched slightly.

Markus continued. "My heart has been shattered." He allowed his head to hit the table.

…

He reached an arm towards Velvet. "Let me touch your ears, Velvet."

Velvet hissed and slapped his hand away. Probably the loudest she's been all week.

She didn't react that harshly to that bully Cardin. Was Markus really that bad?

He depressed further.

Coco sent a pitiful look to the side of Markus's head. She thought over something, before speaking to him in a concerned voice.

"Would it help?"

Velvet shot a deadly glare at her team leader.

Markus didn't lift his head. "...No. I just wanted to compare the experience to the one in my dream."

"Oh."

…

A depressing silence was formed between the three; it spread to the males as well, who didn't understand why they were suddenly crying.

Coco, who was sitting right next to Markus, began to rub his back.

Nothing more was said on that lunch.

…

…

Markus received his directions.

 **-Break-**

 _Later_

Ozpin and his gang minus Ironwood were busy asking questions to the two teams, after they were able to clear up what exactly Markus did in team RWBY's dorm. Ironwood left because he had 'official business' to do.

The questions were not necessarily about Markus or his father. Why? No one really cared too much except for Ironwood. Now, it was almost like a parent-teacher conference, minus the parents.

…

Glynda saw something flicker at the corner of her eye. She tried to ignore it, but was unable to do so for long and and looked out the window towards the flickering object.

At the bottom of Beacon Tower, a man was starting a fire. Glynda narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the man, and discovered he was wearing black clothes and looked incredibly suspicious. She could not see his face; it looked like it was covered by a mask.

She coughed to get Ozpin's attention.

"Professor Ozpin. A suspicious man is starting a fire at the bottom of Beacon Tower."

Ozpin, who was standing, walked over to the window and looked down. He widened his eyes slightly.

"...I see." He looked back at the students.

"I will go down to check on Mr. Quinn. Would you all care to join me?"

Markus? What does he have to do with anything?

But, the students were bored of being here. They nodded and did not think further about Markus.

"Very well." He walked to the elevator.

…

Ozpin, what was left of his gang, and the eight students stepped out of the elevator. They walked towards the door, and eventually exited the tower.

…

They saw something horrifying.

There was multiple small piles of objects burning on the ground. A man was walking in between them, pushing a wheelbarrow with more objects in it.

When he reached a good spot, he dumped the contents of the wheelbarrow on the ground. Then, he walked back to a tiki torch that was stabbed into the ground, and pulled it out. He swept the torch into a previously lit fire to light it, before walking back to the new pile of objects and lighting it with the torch.

The man was wearing a black cloak and familiar heart boxers. The RWBY shirt they were familiar with was nowhere to be seen. He hid his face with a black executioner's mask.

All the smoke in the area darkened the sunlight. It looked like a small piece of hell.

…

The students got closer. They recognized the boxers. It was Markus.

The man picked up a shovel that was on the ground. He walked over to a large pile of objects that the students did not notice before.

Pyrrha asked a question to the masked Markus.

"...What are you doing, Markus?"

He looked at the students, and seemed to flinch when his sight went over Ruby.

"Markus is dead." Markus said. He started shoveling the objects from the large pile and threw them into an already-lit pile.

When the students looked and registered what the objects were, they all paled considerably.

Even the members of Ozpin's gang looked a little bit distressed.

But Ruby had it the worst. She got dizzy and almost collapsed from the lack of blood heading to her head.

The objects were familiar to the students. They saw them in Markus's medical room, in the morning.

Markus was shoveling and burning hundreds, perhaps thousands of statues, plushies, shirts, posters, and all other kinds of merchandise.

This was not scary by itself. The scary part was that all of them were similar in a specific way.

All. Of. Them. Were. Of. Ruby.

If it had anything resembling Ruby on it, it was here. Burning, or waiting to be.

…

Markus had finished shoveling a good amount of Ruby merchandise from the large pile into the now-large and burning pile.

He walked over to the side of the tower, where there was grass.

Everyone looked over. They paled further.

There was dozens, maybe even a hundred ten-foot tall wooden poles stuck into the ground in the grass.

Tied to each pole was a larger, but not life-size plushie of Ruby. They were high enough that their feet were about five feet off the ground.

Markus grabbed the tiki torch that he used previously. It was out, so he swept it through a flame to relight it.

He walked to the closest pole, and lit it at the bottom. Then, he walked to the next one and did the same.

Systematically, all the poles were lit on fire.

The students and Ozpin's gang could only watch as their friend was sacrificed to a dark being. Ruby fell onto her bottom.

…

Markus walked past them, to a very large pile of unlit Rubys. He swept the tiki torch through the pile. There must have been gasoline or Dust in the pile; the fire spread incredibly fast.

Now, there was a massive bonfire and multiple smaller ones behind Markus, and a field of sacrifices in front of him.

The smoke blotted out the sun. Now, _this_ was hell.

The demon with the tiki torch turned to the onlookers.

"There is no God."

…

…

…

No one, not even Markus himself, noticed the small blood red magic circle on the back of his neck.

 **-Break-**

 _Later_

It was raining lightly.

...

Sykes was standing idly outside the warehouse. For the last couple days, he and Roman have been preparing for… something.

All the Dust was moved out and they packed up to move somewhere else. Sykes was also assigned a few missions. Assassination, bribery, generally whatever makes a man keep quiet.

Well, okay, fine. No bribery. Only assassination.

He was on his break now, though.

…

Sykes took out a pack of cigarettes from his coat. Roman got him hooked on smoking. Again.

He used to smoke, but stopped when he noticed that the smoke got stuck in Skye. It would not diffuse anywhere, and just hung out in a very large and dense cloud above the realm. It's still there, to this day.

A human would probably die of cancer immediately if they traveled into the cloud. Sykes couldn't rely on the most likely now-poisonous rain to water his flowers anymore; he had to do it by hand now.

Sure, he could remove it at any point he wants. But Sykes didn't. Who knows why.

He shook the box and slid out a cig. Bringing the box to his mouth, he bit it and pulled it out when he brought the box back into his coat.

He brought his other hand up and snapped his fingers in front of the cigarette, somehow lighting it.

After letting it burn for a moment, he inhaled the sweet, sweet nicotine. The smoke traveled through his decorative and mostly unused respiratory system, before he exhaled it through his mouth.

…

A little bit of time later, Sykes was about to turn around and enter the warehouse. This was the last day here, he had to remove his cabin.

But before he could turn, he heard very light footsteps coming from in front of him.

They were extremely quiet. A normal person wouldn't be able to hear it, even if there was no rain.

Sykes looked up. There was nothing there.

That is, to a third person's perspective. With Sykes being who he is, he could tell exactly what was going on.

A girl of rather short stature was charging towards him. She had put up an illusion around herself, making Sykes - if he was normal - not be able to see her.

So, she's returned. Sykes wondered why she decided to attack him.

He sighed and pulled out his cigarette, holding it between two fingers on his left hand. He looked away, pretending not to notice. It wasn't too hard, she probably expected the lack of response.

When she got close, she launched an invisible, quick and precise kick to Sykes's midsection.

But Sykes was faster. He sent out his right claw towards the girl's head. Before the girl could notice anything going on, the world's most powerful grip was already firmly clamped to the top of her head. It prevented her any movement in any direction. The kick hit, but it was weakened by the sudden loss of momentum and did not appear to affect him at all.

To a third person, the air shattered and revealed a short girl with strange hair and an umbrella being grabbed on the head by Sykes. Her hair was brown on one side, and pink with white highlights on the other. It was long enough to just about reach her hip.

The girl was most definitely shocked, but shook the expression off quickly. She swung her umbrella at the man's neck with her right arm, using the most spinning momentum she could muster without actually spinning.

Sykes moved his left arm this time, and caught the umbrella just above where she held it, stopping the swing. She quickly tried multiple anti-grappling techniques to try and twist the umbrella from his grip, but the arm and hand was like steel, not moving at all. The hand was also gripping the part of the umbrella that spreads out, keeping her from opening the umbrella as well.

Sykes still had the cigarette in his left hand. He lowered it and made it burn the back of the girl's hand in an attempt to make her let go of the weapon.

He could feel a small flinch from the girl. The girl looked at her hand. Wasn't she wearing gloves?!

But the flinch was enough.

Sykes tore the umbrella from her somehow gloveless hand during her moment of weakness and held it like a cane beside him, unreachable from the girl's current position. Even more so thanks to her diminutive size.

He lifted his arm up higher, so that the girl was now hanging about a foot and a half off the ground; almost eye level with Sykes. He put the cigarette back in his mouth.

"Who are you?"

She didn't answer verbally. Instead, she answered by both sending kicks at his torso and by creating various illusions that would make a normal person instinctively let go. Suddenly having his arm cut off, a huge explosion, Grimm, whatever.

Of course, since Sykes is blind (that was his excuse), none of the illusions did anything. And since Sykes is Sykes, the kicks did not affect him either.

…

After a while, the girl got tired. The inefficient kicks with heels she currently was stuck doing really hurt the ankles. And overuse of her semblance started to take its toll on her mind. And her neck and shoulders were really starting to get sore.

So, she stopped.

Sykes blew out smoke to the side.

"You done?"

The girl crossed her arms and frowned. She didn't reply.

Sykes inhaled and exhaled his smoke.

"Don't like talking?" Sykes nodded. "I can respect that."

He moved his fingers in a way that slowly rotated the girl.

Now, she was facing the same direction as Sykes was, still hanging from his hand, and still crossing her arms.

Sykes turned around and walked into the warehouse. He tossed his cig on the ground, the warehouse was a no-smoking zone. The girl swung around like a doll.

He called out into the warehouse.

"Hey, boss! Do you know this girl?"

…

Quickly, he reached the center area. It was mostly empty, except for a cabin.

Roman was standing around, messing with his scroll.

When he heard familiar footsteps, he looked up to see a pouting Neo crossing her arms and being held in the air by Sykes. She was swinging left and right, and her eyes were changing colors rapidly. Roman did not know what emotion this signified. And that worried him.

"Neo!" He quickly slid the scroll back in his pocket and ran up to Sykes.

"Neo?" Sykes tilted his head.

Roman got there and glared at Sykes.

"Hey, numbnut. Let her go."

Sykes didn't.

"Who is Neo?"

Roman began to get impatient. He would have tried to get him to do it using force, but he discovered one day that when Sykes doesn't want to be caught, no one can catch him. And he would like to avoid Sykes dipping, ducking, diving, and/or dodging with Neo in his hand.

"What do you mean 'who is Neo'?! You mentioned her when we first met!" Roman always wanted to ask how he knew he works with Neo, but never had the chance to.

"I did?" Sykes tilted his head in an attempt to remember.

"Yes!"

"Oh! I did mention someone named Neopolitan!" Sykes twisted Neo around, so that she was now facing him. He pointed his free hand at her. "You're saying Neopolitan and Neo are the same person? And it is this girl?"

Neo glared.

"Yes, blockhead! Now let her down!"

"Hmm."

Sykes brought Neo closer to his face. Uncomfortably close. Neo tried to put her head as far back as possible, and pushed against his throat. She probably shot a few kicks, as well.

After a while of staring, Sykes spoke. "Okay."

Why does Sykes stare at new people so much?

Sykes gently lowered Neo's feet to the ground, and released the death grip on her head. She was still crossing her arms. Her hair was frazzled in a couple places, more specifically where his fingers gripped onto her head. She prepared to attack him again, but paused when Sykes reached into his coat to take out a pink comb.

After combing her hair for a minute or two, it was back at its original quality. Markus handed her the umbrella, and backed up a couple steps. After nodding, he talked.

"My name is Sykes. I'm sorry for stealing your glove." Sykes tossed a black glove at Neo, who hasn't moved since he started combing her hair. The glove landed on her shoulder.

"So, boss!" Sykes turned to Roman and spread his arms. "Where are we going next?"

"I don't know." Roman looked away from Neo. " _She_ should come soon and tell us. Until then, get rid of that cabin of yours." He pointed a thumb behind him. "I need to get Neo caught up. On our situation, and on you."

Roman started walking to Neo. Sykes nodded and ran to his cabin. "Got it, boss."

…

Fifteen minutes later, Sykes walked back to the other two. The cabin that would have been behind him was gone from from any plane of existence. Of course, he did it subtly.

Subtly, as in, they did not see him sticking a house in his coat.

…

"-he's pretty messed up in the head."

Sykes frowned. He got closer.

Neo was sitting up on a container, and Roman was speaking from under her. It was almost like a scene from Romeo and Juliet.

Sykes leaned on the container, and smiled the way he does. "Talking about me, boss?"

Roman shot around. "Uh… Yeah." He changed the subject with incredible efficacy. "You already got rid of the cabin?"

"Yes." Sykes leaned his head on the container. "When is she arriving? I'm bored."

"Hopefully n-" Roman spoke, but was interrupted.

A woman's voice and the clicking of high heels sounded out from behind Roman.

"Hopefully, what, Roman?"

Roman turned around.

 _Why does everyone appear behind me?_

"Hopefully… _now_ …?" He sweat slightly.

Cinder did not comment on the bad covering up that Roman attempted. Instead, she looked up a Neo, who was looking back. Neo narrowed her eyes. Too many new people.

"Oh, Neo, this is the _employer_ I told you about."

Neo hopped off the crate she was on and stood next to Roman. She crossed her arms.

"Roman, this is your… assistant?" Cinder seemed amused by something.

"Uh… Yeah." Roman was confused by both Cinder's amusement and Neo's actions.

Sykes analysed the current situation, and did the best thing available to him.

He walked over and stood on the other side of Roman, the opposite side of Neo, and crossed his arms as well.

Roman was really confused. He was standing in between two people who were crossing their arms like bodyguards.

Cinder chuckled, elegantly covering her mouth.

Sykes leaned over and whispered something to Roman.

" _All bad guys need two subordinates. This is why."_

Then it hit Roman.

He straightened his back, put his cane in front of him and grabbed it with a hand. He also took out a cigar and lit it.

Now, there was no longer Roman, Neo, and Sykes. There was only The Boss, and his number two and three. The atmosphere seemed to become more dramatic. It was incredibly cool.

Roman spoke softly after blowing out smoke.

"Can I… help you?"

…

Cinder's smile widened in amusement. But it quickly was smothered back into the small indecipherable smile she liked to wear.

"Looks like you packed up." She looked around and walked to the mini mafia. Roman nodded.

"Good. You are moving to this address." She handed an small paper to Roman, who accepted it.

He took a look at it and nodded.

"This is pretty close to the city. What are we doing there?"

"You will only be staying there a couple days. A week at most." Cinder walked to in front of Sykes, who tilted his head. "After that, most of your work will be… out of town."

Cinder then just stared at Sykes, thinking of something.

…

Cinder had asked _her_ for advice on how to gain control over deranged men. She doubted doing the same thing she did to Roman would have worked; she has never seen him be anxious at all, in the months she had been keeping tabs. Plus, he has strange resources. If he can regenerate an arm with a pill, who knows what else he can bring out?

Those last two traits of his made her all the more interested in him.

 _She_ told Cinder that she needed to get him to idolize her. She needed to find what makes him tick, and take advantage of that. She was also told that any further relationship must be set up in a reward-based system. It made sense.

Cinder planned to get Sykes from Roman. But now was not the time. She needed to get Sykes alone.

…

"...Yes?" Sykes asked, after Cinder did nothing but stare at him for some time.

Cinder was snapped out of her thoughts and coughed. "Nothing, Sykes."

…

She turned around and walked out, with considerably less crossing of legs in her walk.

"You will be given directions once you reach the address. I would go soon, if I were you."

She soon disappeared.

…

…

…

Roman and the gang were in a nondescript white van, driving to somewhere.

For some reason, Roman made Neo drive. She could barely reach the petals, but she was pretty good at driving, actually.

…

Sykes grabbed his chin and turned to Roman.

"Boss, I've been thinking of growing some stubble. Should I?"

Roman looked at his number three.

He spoke after imagining for a moment. "Will it be white?"

"My facial and body hair is black. Only the hair on my head is this color."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "I thought that only happens to old people."

"I'm old." In the story, Sykes is 47. In reality, Sykes is a lot older.

So, white hair would be acceptable in either case.

Roman didn't know that. "Well, you sure fooled me. But yes, some stubble will make you look nice."

…

"How old are you?" Roman became curious at Sykes's remark.

Sykes looked over. "I'm forty-seven."

The van must've hit a pothole or something, because Roman jumped so high he almost hit the roof of the car. Neo also moved in similar way in front. The van skid a little.

" _F-forty-seven_!? You're twenty years older than me!"

"Yeah. So?"

"You're a goddamned _old man_!"

Sykes frowned. A small light appeared behind his neck. It made a shadow on his face.

"Well, this _goddamned_ _old man_ will beat your disrespectful mouth in. Zip it, kid."

Sykes smiled again; the light behind his neck faded.

"Boss."

…

Roman's mouth shut.

He still has a lot to learn about Sykes.

* * *

 **In the story, Sykes had Markus when he was 30.**

 **That is, if Markus is 17.**

 **...**

 **wink**


	14. Fourteen - The Changing Future

**I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Sykes arrived.

…

That sounded odd.

…

Roman and his small gang arrived at the address. They exited the van and looked at the building that they were assigned to.

It was an apartment building with many stories.

This part of town was edging on three districts in Vale. It was somewhere in between the residential, factory, and warehouse areas.

That created many apartments, this one included.

This one was called _The Laborer's Home_ ; they seemed to get right to the point. Despite the large parking lot, few cars were parked; most people who lived here could probably walk to their factory jobs. Or maybe they couldn't afford cars. Who knows.

The sky was grey and smoggy. Having all these factories here can't be good for the environment.

Here, faunus and humans got along well. No one had the energy to discriminate.

…

"This place is depressing." Roman accurately summarized all of the above. His two associates nodded.

Roman's scroll vibrated. He took it out and checked the text.

 _You will be staying in room 3828._

He slipped the scroll back in his pocket.

"Well, looks like we'll be staying here. Room 3828." Roman looked at Sykes. "You and Neo check in. My face is all over the news. I'm sure the people here will jump at the chance to claim a bounty."

Sykes looked at Roman. "Can't she just change your appearance?"

"Thanks to your little 'skirmish'," Roman crossed his arms. He heard all about it in the van. "She overused her semblance, and needs rest. So, no."

Sykes tilted his head. "So why'd you make her drive?"

"Because she's good at it. And I don't trust you enough to let you drive."

"Okay." Sykes nodded. "Well, let's go."

He walked towards the building after glancing at Neo, who yawned and soon followed.

 **-Break-**

Markus woke up comfortably. He had a great night's sleep, and slept for over twelve hours. He dreamt of Yang's mother.

Odd, but okay.

…

He stretched his arms above his head and yawned.

Markus was in his medical room. After his little 'ritual', Ozpin made the decision to 'allow' Markus to stay in his medical room to rest and recuperate for a couple days.

In other words, they locked up the crazy.

…

It was Saturday, the second last day of break. Markus should get released from his house arrest today, if he is on good behavior. If not, tomorrow.

But, Markus wasn't bored. There still was many fun things he could do in this room, like…

Oh! Markus heard footsteps come from outside. He shot off his bed to look out from under his door, and saw someone's high heels walking in the hallway. The woman (Markus assumed) was about to cross in front of his door.

He backed away from the door, and waited until the woman was just in front of his room.

Once that time came, he charged as fast as he could (which was pretty fast, even without dashing), and slammed into the door.

 _BAM!_

He yelled, and added a deranged tone to his voice.

"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME LOCKED UP HERE FOREVER, OZPIN!"

He heard a feminine shriek come from outside and a body collapsing. Also, the sound of many papers falling onto the ground.

He yelled outside again. "Huh? WHO'S THERE!?"

He listened to panicked breathing for a moment, while internally debating whether or not to continue his terrorization. What if he traumatizes this poor woman? Would it be worth it?

Hell yeah.

"A girl!?" He spoke in the same manner, but quieter, and more creepy. "Hey, girl… let me out, please! I've been locked in here for _days_!"

The woman outside stood up and began to walk away, but faster than before.

"Hey! HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Markus began slamming his hand on the door. "GET THE HELL BACK HERE, GIRL! YOU BETTER OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR!"

The footsteps got faster. Markus slammed many of his body parts against the door, louder and more often.

"I WILL REMEMBER THIS, GIRL! WHEN I GET OUT… YOU _WILL_ PAY!"

The footsteps sped up to maximum levels before fading. Perhaps she walked around a corner or something.

"DAMN IT!" He yelled loudly and smashed his head against the door for good measure. It hurt. He still hasn't refilled his 'aura'.

…

Markus backed up from the door and laid across his sofa. He closed his eyes to savor the feeling.

What joy!

No wonder Sykes enjoys terrorizing women so much!

What was she? The 27th?

He could not be more satisfied.

Well, he could if he figured out how to put killing intent into his voice. That would multiply the fun by a large number.

…

Unknown to Markus, a leaf blew in from somewhere and landed on the ground. Once landed, it make a crinkling sound and disappeared, something else taking its place.

…

"Markus. I am worried about how similar you are to me."

Markus didn't open his eyes or sit up. He flipped the bird in the general direction of the voice.

"Fuck you, Sykes. You made me like this."

Sykes flinched at the uncalled-for level of expletives fired at him.

…

"So. What did you call me for?" He asked Markus.

Markus attempted to get in contact with Sykes a couple days ago, when he was first locked up. He used both more conventional means, such as his texting or calling, as well as not-as-conventional means, such as yelling loudly in his mind (Markus was sure Sykes could hear). This was before he found out the joys of terrorizing women, however.

Why?

"Well, I've been thinking." Markus sat up and weaved his fingers together. "Team JNPR really has no relevance to the plot, in general. At least not now."

Sykes tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Just listen. Nora and Ren have a somewhat sad backstory, but it is not relevant now at all. Pyrrha has her problems, but there is nothing I can do about that. And that's Jaune's job." Markus looked at Sykes. "I don't have any clue about Jaune, but in the story he doesn't do too much."

Sykes kept his head tilted.

"Okay, I'll just tell you." Markus sighed. "Team JNPR doesn't have their own storyline, like, at all. As opposed to team RWBY, which is dead center in pretty much all future conflicts, and where each member has a relevant backstory to them."

"That's true." Syked nodded. "So?"

"So, as a member of team JNPR, and one with the support of a bullshit god, I want to remedy this. I want to add some development to the team, as well as make them responsible for some plot movement."

"I'm not a god." Sykes smiled. "But what are you thinking?"

Markus put his hands in front of him, like he was explaining something.

"Just something simple, for now. Like, I run away from the team to deal with you one day, and when I fail and get captured by you, team JNPR swoops in to save me. Then, once successful in rescuing me, they spout some cliche about how I am a part of team JNPR and can ask them for help with my problems. Maybe Pyrrha or Nora would slap me at that moment. That would be nice." Markus leaned back on the sofa and put his arms beside him. "That causes me to open up further to my team. Character development. And maybe you can do something for your master plan, as well."

It felt odd talking about himself like he was a fictional character, but it was not a bad feeling.

Markus looked at Sykes.

Sykes paused, then chuckled, all before throwing his head back, roaring with laughter.

…

After a minute of laughter, he looked back at Markus and wiped a finger on his blindfold/hair.

"Well, son. You really are becoming just like me." Sykes chuckled one last time before tilting his head.

…

"This idea of yours will work." Sykes straightened his head. "When do you want to do it?"

"That's it?" Markus blinked. He sounded surprised. "You'll do it?"

"Sure. Why not? It's true that your team could use more relevance to the plot." Sykes shrugged. "So, when?"

Markus honestly confused at Sykes nonchalance, but thought about it anyways. "... I'm thinking… after team RWBY's little White Fang escapade, but before the dance? Maybe even at the same time of Mountain Glenn, I don't want team RWBY to be able to interfere."

"Can't do it during Mountain Glenn." Sykes shook his head. "I will be participating in that event."

"Then before."

"That will work. The dance is only like a month from now, isn't it?" Sykes looked at his wrist. "It is."

Sykes looked back at Markus.

"Well, okay. Just call me when you feel like doing it. Or don't. I leave it up to you."

"Speaking of team JNPR," Sykes looked at the door. "Both they and Ozpin are coming. Be sure to make an impression! Bye!"

He disappeared.

…

Markus pushed his thoughts to the back of his head and scrambled up in preparation to _make an impression_.

He looked under the door and waited until he could hear footsteps. This time, he wasn't going to wait until they were in front of the door.

After seeing shoes and hearing footsteps, he stood back up and prepared to make his impression.

…

A muffled voice was heard by Markus. He couldn't tell the owner of the voice from it; he only heard bits and pieces.

"Why… papers… front of… door?"

 _Oh yeah, the papers are still there._

…

Markus tensed his muscles.

It's showtime.

 **-Break-**

Roman looked up the side of the apartment building, looking for Sykes.

…

Eventually, Sykes appeared on a balcony, waving his arms once he caught sight of Roman. The signal.

Roman walked over and stood under that specific balcony. He held his cane up and shot the grappling hook.

The walls of the balcony were too thick for the hook to be able to grasp, so Sykes caught it instead. After asking if Roman was prepared, Sykes pulled him up.

…

Roman reached the balcony, and crawled over the barrier.

The first word out of his mouth was a complaint.

"What took so long, numbnut?! I almost froze out there!" He pointed threateningly at Sykes.

Sykes wasn't scared of the finger.

"Neo fell asleep. I put her in bed."

Roman re-attached the hook of the cane to the shaft of it.

"And _why_ , exactly did you do that? She's not going to like it." Roman glared at Sykes. Neo _really_ doesn't like getting treated like a kid.

Sykes looked away from Roman and leaned on the barrier.

Roman saw something strange. While he was glaring, he saw Sykes's signature smile shrink - which by itself isn't too rare - but this time it twisted into one of… sadness?

Sykes chuckled with the new smile on.

"Who knows?"

It was hidden well, but Roman could hear various emotions in his voice.

…

Roman was going to open his mouth to speak, but Sykes turned around and erased his previous expression in record time, now smiling unnervingly again.

"Well then, boss. Want to watch a movie?"

Roman was surprised by his sudden change back to normal.

"...Eh?"

"Great!" Sykes took out a movie from his coat. He walked through the sliding door into a small living room that had a large TV and many other entertainment equipment already set up.

He placed the disc into the player, and leaned back onto the sofa.

Roman stopped his pondering when a cold breeze tickled the back of his neck. He buried the questions he had in his mind, and walked over to sit next to Sykes. He would have to ask later.

"Got any chips?" Roman was starting to feel peckish.

Sykes took out a bag of chips from his coat.

"Of course."

Roman grabbed the chips and looked at the bag, checking for the flavor.

"Great." It was his favorite flavor.

Roman leaned back, a bag of chips in his lap, and Sykes started the movie.

 **-Break-**

Markus woke up.

He looked around, and unsurprisingly, he was still in his medical room/cell.

It was Sunday, school starts once again tomorrow.

He managed to do absolutely nothing the entire break so far. The first half, he was pretty much dead. The second, he was locked up in this room.

After his little _impression_ yesterday, Ozpin decided to _not_ release Markus one day early. Probably a very easy decision to make.

That night, Markus cried himself to sleep. But, only he knew whether they were tears of sadness or joy.

…

While he was wondering whether or not he traumatized his poor team yesterday, he heard clicking coming from his door. It sounded like they were unlocking the door.

When the lock was unlocked and the doorknob twisted, he saw Ruby of all people enter his room. The rest of team RWBY were standing behind outside the door, staring at Markus with mixed emotions.

Markus didn't lift his head, only moving his eyes to look. "...Umm. Good morning?"

 _Why are they in my room?_

"Breakfast is in thirty minutes, Markus! Get up!" Ruby encouraged Markus.

Markus was slightly stumped on how quickly Ruby can lose her untrust of someone.

He twisted his head towards Ruby. He was in his bed the entire time; covered completely except for his head, by the sheets.

"Why are you here?"

Weiss stomped into the room and spoke to him once she saw how long this could potentially take with her leader's communication skills.

"Professor Ozpin decided he needed a team to watch you for the day." She 'hmph'ed. "What in the world did you do yesterday? Team JNPR had trouble sleeping!"

"Uhh…" Markus thought about yesterday. "Was it that bad?"

"Yes! Now get up! I don't want to have to eat cold food because of _you_!"

Weiss grabbed onto his sheets and attempted to pull them off. But, she could not, because Markus was grabbing the sheets from underneath, preventing any movement.

Markus looked dead straight into Weiss's eyes and spoke in the most serious tone he probably ever has spoke in.

"White girl. I would very much recommend you _do not_ take off these sheets."

Weiss looked surprised by the sudden shift in mood.

"... And why is that?" She crossed her arms.

"It's for your own safety." Markus didn't even blink yet. "Trust me."

Weiss kept staring at Markus. Ruby looked at Markus and back to Weiss multiple times, before looking at Markus.

"O-okay. We'll be outside, Markus." Ruby walked out of the room while pulling Weiss - who was still crossing her arms and glaring - behind her.

They left the room and shut the door.

…

Markus brought a white-sleeved arm up to his face and wiped his eyes. They were starting to tear up from lack of blinking. He let out a sigh of relief while doing so.

"That was close."

Markus left the bed. He stretched his arms over his head while standing.

 _Weiss's dresses really are comfortable._

…

Yes. He was wearing a perfect copy of Weiss's battle outfit. It was unknown where he got it from. Or why he was wearing it.

He quickly pulled it off and slid it under his bed with the others (...others?).

Markus was now only wearing boxers. He grabbed his uniform and coat and put them on.

…

Markus kicked open the door.

"I'm ready!"

Neither team RWBY nor Markus himself got the reference.

He looked to the closest person. It was Blake, who was leaning on the wall while reading a book.

"Where are we eating?"

Blake looked up from her book to look at Markus oddly. "The cafeteria."

Markus slumped forward.

"Oh." Aren't people supposed to hit the town and go to restaurants on days like this?

Markus slowly walked down the hallway, team RWBY surrounding him like bodyguards.

Really starting the new semester off with a… bang.

 **-Break-**

Walking to the cafeteria, I looked around at team RWBY and team JNPR, who we intercepted with in the hallways. Thankfully, they trusted me again. It wouldn't be good if they still think I am Satan himself.

I sighed, while pondering the important questions that came to me while I was locked up.

When will I get my harem?

All reincarnated people need one, right?

Am I not trying hard enough?

…

A leaf blew through the hallway and I could heard a certain man's voice in the breeze that came with it.

 _You don't have the ability to handle a harem._

…

Well, okay, fine, random voice in the wind.

…

…

I was sitting in the cafeteria, eating breakfast. Team JNPR was sitting around me and RWBY was in front. Well, except for Ruby, who was somewhere, getting something.

The remaining members of team RWBY were talking about something. But I wasn't paying attention. Instead I was wondering why the situation struck me as strangely familiar.

Was this in the show?

Eventually, Ruby returned with a huge book with many sticky notes stuck between the pages. She dropped the book on the table scarily close to my fingers, and spoke in a voice that I could have sworn was squeakier than it was earlier.

"Sisters… friends… Weiss."

"Hey!" Weiss didn't like that.

…

 _Why is that so familiar?_

 _Was this really part of the show?_

I put my head in my hands to run through all the RWBY episodes I remember. It's been four months, man.

The voices entering my head were muffled from my deep thoughts.

…

Unknown to me, team RWBY were talking about how they will spend the last day of break, and whether or not they should make me participate, due to Ozpin's instructions to watch over me. Ruby voted 'yes' on that (I have no clue why). Yang voted 'no'. The other two were indifferent, though Blake perked up a little.

"I don't know, I think I might sit this one out." Blake said.

"Sit out or not, I think that however we spend this day, we should do it as a team!" Weiss spoke.

Behind me, Nora said something that I wasn't paying any attention to.

…

 _Is it… volume two yet?_

 _I thought volume two started tomorrow, on the first day._

Deciding to check volume two now, I ran through the first episode in my head.

…

While still in thought, a pie sailed over me, heading towards the crankiest of team RWBY.

Headshot.

Weiss was successfully pied in the face.

The area immediately became silent. Team JNPR behind me had mixed expressions, from Ren's disappointment to Pyrrha's shock.

…

The pie slipped off Weiss's face and clattered to the ground.

After staying completely still for a moment, Weiss opened her mouth to speak. But, no words were spoken.

 _Kill._

The words were heard anyway. The smartest nondescript students in the immediate area were already running out of the cafeteria.

I was still pondering.

 **-Break-**

 _Oh yeah! A food fight!_

I looked up and around at the deserted cafeteria. The only table that was in an a 20-foot radius of me was in front of me. All the other ones were either stacked on one side of the room or pushed against the walls.

"OW!"

A stray watermelon smashed against my nose and blew up in my face. I fell off the bench and landed on my back.

"Sorry, Marky!" Nora's voice came from somewhere.

I clenched my hands while lying on the ground.

Oh, how I wanted to rain down fire and fury on everything and everyone in the room in the form of food. But no, I am a twenty-one year old man. I am much too old and mature to be participating in such childish activities. Besides, I don't have a place in this conflict, really.

So, I breathed my rage out of my nose and wiped my coat for any watermelon. I stood back up.

Sitting back down, I attempted to eat the food that was no longer on my plate. Once figuring out where the food went, I decided to perform a social experiment.

I raised an arm up and tapped on the table with the other one. I yelled.

"Hit me, Big N!"

Something collided with my hand. I was able to grab it before it slipped out.

I brought it in front of me to find out what the object was.

A pickle.

"Thanks, N!"

"No problem… Marky!" N yelled across the room while heaving something.

I took a bite from the pickle and leaned back on the table to watch the fight.

…

Jaune was removed from combat immediately via turkation. I secured his body and sat him beside me.

…

Yang and Ren were locked in battle directly in front of me and Jaune. Yang violated two turkeys again and used them like boxing gloves. Ren used two leeks as weapons.

In my head, I cheered Yang on because leeks are disgusting. I wish that was something I forgot.

Maybe it was my cheers, or maybe it was destiny for Yang to win. She threw Ren into the air and was able to bicycle kick him into the ground in mid-air.

Ren was out.

Nora noticed this and came in with a quickly-fashioned hammer made from a metal pole and a watermelon. She jumped in front of Yang and swung her hammer at her.

Yang's reach just wasn't enough and she was thrown in the air from Nora's hammer. And when I say thrown, I mean _thrown_. Somehow, she flew up and managed to smash through the ceiling into the open sky.

All this occurred directly in front of me. From where I sat, I was able to see a healthy amount of upskirt.

I took a bite of my pickle.

Today is a good day.

…

Other things happened, and Jaune woke up. I also recovered Ren's body and sat him on the other side of me.

Jaune looked at Nora throwing soda cans like grenades at a retreating Blake. He turned to me.

"Why aren't you helping?"

I looked back, tilting my head.

"Why should I?"

He was going to say something, but was distracted by Pyrrha using her powers to send hundreds of soda cans at Blake.

I put my hand up.

"Over here, Big P!"

Looking back, that is a very strange name. But, it got the idea across.

A can of soda hit my hand, and I grabbed it.

"Thanks, champ!"

I opened the can as far away from my body as possible, and a huge torrent of blue liquid came out. When it finally died down, I sipped the excellent four drops of soda left in the can.

…

I looked at team RWBY's invasion point. Three out of four of them were eliminated; only Ruby, wearing a battle-hardened face, was left. And she was determined to end this, now.

She began running towards the other side of the room, towards her enemies, using her semblance. Ren woke up by now.

Behind her, a cyclone was forming, bringing food, plates, soda, even tables and benches with it. Internally, I was screaming at how scary it would be to be hit by that.

I stood up.

"I'm going now."

I dashed to the door, where there was two people already. A blonde faunus who I was not supposed to know yet, and a boy who was dyed purple from soda and looked unhappy.

They both looked surprised at my sudden appearance, and I leaned on a wall beside them.

"What's up?"

The faunus looked at me.

"Who are you?"

"Later." I pointed at Ruby. "Look."

They looked at Ruby, who was charging with a huge storm of everything in the room behind her. Jaune was spooked up and began running to me when he noticed my disappearance. Ren looked up and froze at the sight of of the tornado.

But Jaune could not escape in time, and he knew it. He stopped, and looked at me with all sorts of emotions in his eyes. He opened his mouth.

" _Why?"_

That word managed to pierce my very heart and soul. I looked over, and saw Jaune getting sucked into the cyclone behind him, not making a sound, and looking into my eyes the entire time. I shivered.

The cyclone did not stop for our shared moment. After absorbing Ren into itself, it continued towards the last two of the team, and sucked them in as well. The cyclone smashed against the wall and everything in it crashed and broke against the wall.

The wall was stained rainbow from the curiously vibrant drinks, and there were four bodies camouflaged somewhere in there as well. The wall cracked and was depressed slightly, and the four bodies peeled off the wall and hit the ground.

Ruby was kneeling in front, and stood up after a moment. Weiss and Blake soon came from behind and regrouped with their leader, while JNPR were just starting to stir now.

…

The doors to the cafeteria slammed open and a fuming Glynda Goodwitch stomped in. She growled when she saw the situation.

Waving her crop, she used her telekinesis semblance to repair everything and place everything where it should be. It was a magical sight.

"Children, please." She spoke with the power only a teacher can manage. "Do not play with your food!"

The teams on the business side of the voice were standing around, awkwardly chuckling.

A scream came from above while Yang re-entered the cafeteria, smashing a new hole in the ceiling. She landed on a table, breaking it. That effectively made the two teams lose their composure and break into laughter.

Glynda was seething again, but Ozpin came from somewhere and calmed her with words that I wasn't listening to.

The faunus looked to his purple friend.

"See, I love these guys."

The purple man only frowned at his new color.

…

* * *

 **The rest of this part is probably going to be mostly boring canon, with some hints to the future.**

 **Who knows. Maybe I'll throw something in.**


	15. Fifteen - The (un)Changing Game

**I took a small break.**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Skye

Sykes appeared on the porch to the bar.

He looked around, and ripped the paper taped to the front door off.

Reading the words written, he sighed and opened the door to walk in. The paper was burnt into nothingness as he let go.

…

The interior of the bar was completely cleaned up, even though Sykes never cleaned it since Markus made a mess in it. He immediately looked to a table that was not empty; there was a person in a dark purple hooded cloak sitting in one of the chairs. On the table where they sat, an oval-shaped white mask with no markings or bumps of any kind on it was placed. Sykes frowned when he recognized the man, who was busy reading some comic book.

Reaching up, Sykes grabbed a bottle hanging above and pulled it off the ceiling. Looking at the alcohol content, he was able to return his frown to a neutral expression. After opening it with a hand, he drank the entire bottle in one gulp.

Sykes threw the empty bottle at the man in the cloak, but it disappeared halfway there. The man didn't seem to notice.

Sykes slid into the chair across from the man and frowned again when he saw his face. He spoke, annoyance clearly evident in his voice.

"What the hell do you want this time?"

…

The man put down his comic book and smiled.

 **-Break-**

I was in the library, waiting for people to arrive while reading a comic book.

The others were showering and changing clothes, among other things, after the food fight. Ruby and Sun were never touched by food, but they kept their stained teammates company.

Leaving me alone. Wasn't team RWBY supposed to watch me?

…

I heard footsteps easily cutting through the library's silence. They got closer and closer, until they stopped immediately in front of me. There was definitely something new in my field of vision, but I didn't look up from the comic.

"Um… Markus…?" A girl's voice came from in front of me.

I looked up.

…

"Well, hello, red girl."

Ruby was here, alone, holding a board game. She looked satisfied with my greeting, and turned around to put the game on a table. She took off the top and began to set it up while bobbing in either happiness or excitement.

…

I was deep in thought.

 _Ruby came here for me!_

A smile was forming on my face; Ruby didn't notice, she was facing the other direction and was busy setting up the game. I looked at her swinging legs and bobbing head.

A tear came out of my eye.

 _She's too sweet for this world._

I brought up a finger to wipe the tear, but froze halfway there. Because, I remembered how she betrayed me on that day.

She choked me while smiling and looking at me straight in the eyes. While sitting on my chest, no less. Back then, my brain shut down for a minute thanks to all the conflicting sensations and emotions I felt at that point in time. I don't even remember if anyone choked me after her.

 _Unforgivable._

Not even burning all my Ruby merchandise was able to improve my mood.

The smile on my face was quickly wiped off and the tear was somehow vacuumed back in.

…

After finishing the comic, I put it down and stood up.

I moved to a chair diagonal to Ruby and sat down. She looked away from the plastic package she was trying to rip open to look at me with a questioning gaze.

"So, red girl, what have you got planned for the rest of day?" I asked her. "You didn't mention anything in the cafeteria."

Ruby put down the bag she failed to open and smiled excitedly once she registered my question.

"It's gonna be great, Markus!" She shook. "When everyone gets here…"

…

I spent the next five minutes hearing what Ruby had planned.

…

I held my head in my hands as I leaned forward on the table. I didn't know what emotion I was feeling at the moment.

Disappointment? Probably something along those lines.

Once you look past the five minutes of fluff and adjectives, Ruby's _Best Day Ever_ is actually just playing the same board game over and over and _over_ again. She actually wants us to play this damn game all day; she didn't even put in a break for lunch.

Maybe I was crying from the sheer disappointment I was feeling. Maybe not.

…

The rest of team RWBY and team JNPR walked into the area Ruby and I were staying and saw us.

They saw Ruby joyfully opening packages and unfolding boards while I was holding my head above the table, crying slightly. It looked like I was dealing with a hangover or something.

The members of team RWBY surrounded the table we were at while JNPR went to an adjacent one. Blake sat across from me and Yang sat across from Ruby. Weiss would have sat where I was, however that was currently impossible due to me being in the chair.

So, she crossed her arms and glared at the back of my head instead.

"Why are you sitting in my chair?" She spoke to me, sounding irritated. No big surprise.

I turned my head to her.

"Can't you find another man to bully?" I attempted to appeal to her emotions with my teary eyes.

Weiss opened her mouth, but in the end she decided to not argue with me.

"No."

Oh yeah, she has no emotions.

I sighed and got up, the chair making noise as it messed with the carpet.

Weiss barely waited a second before pushing me away and sitting on the cleared chair, scooting back in.

I stumbled slightly from her push and walked over to my team. Hopefully, they are planning something fun.

Pyrrha took out some books.

"Alright! Let's study!"

I stumbled again and fell flat on the floor. It felt like the sheer disappointment and boredom I was feeling somehow made my vision lose all color. I didn't bother to get up.

They all looked at me. Pyrrha, the den mother of team JNPR, spoke with concern in her voice.

"Markus? Is something wrong?"

I flipped my head to the other side and looked up with my eyes. They were beginning to tear up.

"Pyrrha," Despite the tears, I sounded completely okay. "I'm… bored."

Pyrrha and everyone else slightly jolted at that.

"You're… bored?" Pyrrha sounded like she had trouble believing that.

"Yes, Pyrrha." The floodgates behind my eyes were about to break. "I'm bored."

Pyrrha looked around at her teammates and friends before looking back at me.

"Huh."

She doesn't care.

The gates broke, and the tears were released.

…

"I'm going to... sleep." The liquid was pooling on the floor, wetting the carpet and making it stick to my cheek.

I closed my eyes, and went to sleep incredibly easily.

 **-Break-**

"OW!"

Markus's eyes shot open and he snapped awake. A sharp pain was coming from his hand, and he looked at it to verify the source.

Someone's black sneakers were crushing his left hand. Markus's vision followed up the leg the sneakers were connected to and eventually arrived at a certain blonde team leader's face. He was looking down at Markus with a curious expression on.

Markus looked right back.

"Jaune." Markus spoke to Jaune.

"Yes?"

"Please don't step on my hand."

"Huh?" He looked down at his foot, and by extension, Markus's hand. "Oh… sorry!"

Markus's hand was released from the foot. He used it to get himself up, and rubbed it oce successful in doing so. He looked at his hand; the pattern on Jaune's shoes were now imprinted on the back of it. Markus scowled and looked up from the hand at Jaune.

Jaune wasn't paying attention to him, instead he was leaning on Weiss's chair and speaking to the group of girls.

"Hey! Can I play?" He gave a small wave.

Ruby looked over. "Sorry, Jaune. We've already got four people." She sounded apologetic.

"Besides," Weiss pushed Jaune's arm off her chair. "This game requires a level of tactical cunning and mature judgement that I highly doubt you possess."

"Hey!" Jaune pointed at himself. "I'll have you know that I have been told I am a natural born leader, many times!"

"By who?" Weiss was unbelieving. "Your mother?"

"A-and Pyrrha!" He turned to Pyrrha, who waved.

Turning back, he caught sight of Markus, who was reading a comic book while scowling near him.

"Right, Markus!?"

Markus looked up.

"I've never been led by you." Markus looked back down at his comic and flipped the page.

"Oh."

…

Jaune clasped his hands in front of him and turned to Weiss.

"Please? Let me play your hand for a turn!"

"I'm not trusting you with the citizens of Vacuo!"

Jaune released his hands and held them open beside him.

"Why not? You've trusted me with _way_ more important stuff than that. Like, how Blake is secretly a fau-"

Jaune was unable to finish that thought, as Pyrrha swooped in to cover his mouth while quickly saying an excuse.

"A _fun-loving_ person, whom we all love and respect!"

Jaune chuckled nervously once he realized his mistake, and everyone looked at Blake in a similar way. She looked annoyed.

…

Unknown to everyone, Markus's eyes were glazed over ever since Jaune started begging. He suddenly snapped back to reality with a flinch.

Markus accidentally released a microscopic smile but it was quickly smothered by a frown. He lowered his comic and gripped it tighter. It crinkled under his grip.

He spoke in a tone that could be described as edging on pure rage and hatred.

"She is a… _what?_ "

They all looked at Markus to see him gritting his teeth, _hard._ He scanned Blake's body while glaring at her. He didn't (shouldn't) know that Blake was a faunus, he was in a coma at that time.

 _Does... Markus hate faunus?_

Was the though floating around the room.

Markus never interacted with Velvet with team RWBY or JNPR watching.

Blake bristled and looked back. She was all too familiar with that tone of voice.

" _Jaune?"_

"Um…" Jaune nervously looked at Markus, who now shifted his glare to him. His eyes shot back and forth for any help, but none came.

"She's… a… _fau_ …" Jaune felt glares hitting the back of his head. "-nny guy?"

Markus narrowed his eyes further at Jaune, and glanced at Blake a couple times. The atmosphere was hard to breathe in.

…

Suddenly, Markus lifted a hand and scratched his head.

"Oh. Okay."

Jaune released a breath that he was holding. The atmosphere dissipated, but Blake was still looking at Markus.

Markus opened his comic book again.

"I thought you were going to say _faunus_." Markus almost hissed that last word.

The atmosphere came back with full force.

Jaune opened his mouth to talk, but someone interrupted him.

"Hey, losers." The blonde faunus that was in the cafeteria with a friend came from somewhere and spoke up.

No one listened, and he became quiet when he felt the current atmosphere.

Blake opened her mouth.

"Do you… have a _problem_ with faunus, _Markus?"_ She had trouble keeping her tone level.

Markus looked up from his comic.

"...Yes. I suppose you could say I have a _problem_ with faunus."

Sun didn't like the sound of that. He narrowed his eyes.

"And…" Blake cut through the silence again. "What would that _problem_ be?"

Markus put down his comic, and slowly walked over near Blake under everyone's vision. Once there, he pulled something out of his coat and slammed it on the table.

Everyone except Blake flinched.

"My… _problem_ is, _if,_ you just _happened_ to be a faunus," Markus and Blake were locked in a deadly staring contest.

Markus had one hand on Blake's chair and the other on the table. He was leaning towards Blake's face.

He pointed at the object that he slammed down.

It was a small collectible statue of Blake, missing the faunus ears.

"Then, I would have to re-make _all_ the merchandise with you in it, _blackie_." Markus increased his glare to ludicrous levels. _"And I don't want to do that."_

Markus's voice cracked when he said that last part.

"Do you know how long it would take to re-make all of them?" Markus's voice cracked again. His eyes were tearing up.

…

The atmosphere froze over.

Sun looked closer at the statue.

 _That's actually really well-made._

…

Blake finally registered what was said. The scary expression she had on crumbled away and she fell back slightly.

"Huh?"

Markus stood straight again and crossed his arms.

"You heard me." Markus's voice cracked once again.

Blake blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice (It's a word). She relaxed deeply in her chair and closed her eyes after doing so.

Her thoughts were left unknown.

…

Markus looked back at Jaune after staring at Blake for a while.

"She's… not a faunus... right?" Markus's voice was shaky, and he had an expression on that looked like it would shatter completely with a touch.

Jaune looked at his trembling friend with pity in his eyes. Glancing at Blake, he checked for any signals. When he got none, he opened his mouth.

"Yes. She is a faunus."

Markus froze.

Blake said 'idiot' under her breath.

…

After a couple seconds, Markus furiously rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. He reached into his coat.

From the coat, he took out a black executioner's mask.

"I'm burning it all."

Markus disappeared after throwing the mask on.

Ruby visibly shivered in her chair. It creaked.

"W-wait, Markus!" She disappeared and left a trail of rose petals.

…

 **-Break-**

In an old apartment building, a criminal, a little girl, and an old man were sitting on a sofa, watching a movie. The white-jacketed criminal was eating chips while the little girl ate ice cream. The old man was frowning on how he was just called an old man.

…

Roman's scroll vibrated. He took out the scroll and waved his hand at Sykes when he saw the sender; Sykes paused the movie. Roman frowned when he read what was texted. Neo leaned over to see as well.

After texting back around two letters, Roman slid the scroll back into his pocket and spoke up.

"We've got a job."

"What is it?" Sykes looked over. "From _her_?"

Roman nodded.

"Yep." He looked at Sykes. "Atlas transport. We need to hijack it, before tomorrow night."

Roman tapped the pocket his scroll was in.

"She said she got a 'little' hacker help, and the transport will be off Atlas records." Roman paused. "That means, we can be as flashy as we want."

…

Neo handed Roman a piece of paper. He looked at it.

"Okay." Roman looked back at Sykes. "When I say _we,_ I mean _you_. Neo here wants to test you."

Sykes clapped before standing up and looking at Neo.

"Okay! I can go now."

Roman looked at his enthusiastic underling.

He sighed. "At least unpause the movie."

"Okay." Sykes turned around for the remote.

He unpaused the movie.

After waving at them, Sykes disappeared.

 **-Break-**

 _Hell_

She blew open the doors to a courtyard. She saw the demon, who turned to her.

"It's too late, red one." It said.

She looked around at the burning piles and sacrifices of her black-haired friend. The melted plastic flowed like blood. There was no sun here.

Only fire.

She was too late. Blake was long gone.

Ruby fell to her knees.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

…

The demon got back to tending the flames of hell.

 **-Break-**

It was night, and the moon was out. The only lights around came from it and the streetlamps lining the sides of the road.

…

Sykes was on a civilian bridge overlooking a completely empty highway. He was leaning his back on the railing, waiting for something.

…

Eventually, his ear twitched. He looked back, and saw what he was waiting for.

A small convoy of armored Atlesian trucks. One truck for transporting goods, and two surrounding it; they probably had soldiers or robots in them.

Roman never told him what exactly he was stealing. Roman probably didn't know either.

Of course, Sykes knew. But, Sykes will stay in character. He is a brilliant actor; maybe even the best actor.

…

While he was thinking on how great of an actor he is, the convoy was about to reach the bridge. Sykes noticed this and snapped out if his thoughts.

So, he put his plan into motion. When the middle truck was about to drive past, he leaned back on the railing further, allowing himself to flip off the bridge.

Sykes did a backflip in the air and landed on the transport in a crouching position. He stood up and waved to the truck behind it.

They definitely noticed.

Their communication was impeccable. All the trucks braked at the same time, and Sykes was thrown off the top of the truck and onto the road.

Sykes landed on his back and grunted when he collided with the hard ground. He did not try to get back up.

Let's say he hit his head and was dazed.

…

When Sykes came to, he saw five Atlesian soldiers standing around him, aiming their guns at his head. When they saw him move, one of them spoke up.

"You are Sykes, correct?"

Huh?

Sykes was actually surprised. How did they find out his name? He didn't remember Markus telling very many people, and he was sure Roman or Cinder wouldn't tell any Atlesian soldiers. And he didn't think he was popular enough in general for anyone really to know him.

Ironwood found out Markus's father's name in the interrogation, but Sykes highly doubted that he let every soldier in the army know who he was. No, not doubted, he _knew_ he didn't.

"Surprised?" That same soldier smirked. "Specialist Blue told us _all about_ you."

Specialist Blue? Who's that?

Sykes then noticed the large amount of Atlesian Knights behind the soldiers, also aiming guns. By large amount, Sykes means ten.

In other words, he was surrounded and outnumbered.

"A trap?" Sykes spoke.

"Yep." The soldier smirked again. "Now hands up. You're under arrest."

Sykes stood up, the soldiers and robots still training their guns on his person.

"Hahaha…" Sykes forced a laugh.

He scratched his head.

"No."

Sykes's right leg blurred, and somehow he was able to kick all five soldiers in the face at the exact same time. They were easily removed from combat.

He grabbed a Knight to his right and held it in front of him. Stabbing his hand through it, he disabled it.

The other Knights noticed this and all fired on him at the same time.

No effect. The bullets that hit his coat were unable to piece through, and the bullets that would have hit his chest due to the opening on his coat were blocked by his robotic shield.

Strangely, no Knights aimed for his head. Maybe they were set to only use non-lethal firing tactics.

Emptying an entire mag from a machine gun into someone's torso is probably very much lethal, but whatever. Maybe non-lethal if you have aura.

The bullets suddenly stopped. They all ran out of ammo at the same time.

While the robots reloaded with incredible synchrony, Sykes dropped his shield and widened his smile. He disappeared.

Appearing behind two Knights, he stabbed an arm through both. When pulling his arm back out, he made sure to grab some machinery and metal on the way.

With the machinery in his hands, he looked towards the nearest Knight, who looked back and aimed. The Knights were done reloading now.

Before they could shoot though, Sykes had already thrown the metal in one of his hands at the robot.

The effects were incredible. It was as if a god-powered shotgun went off in its general direction. The poor Knight was effectively shredded apart.

He did the same with the metal in his other hand, shredding another robot.

Now there was five Knights left.

Sykes smiled.

…

Now there was no Knights left.

Sykes looked down at the scrap metal lying all around him. He kicked a robot head near his foot.

"These robots really are fun."

…

Sykes walked to the back of the military truck that was not opened. He wondered what was inside, and if it was robots, why they were not released.

Reaching it, he pulled on the doors. They opened slightly, and then…

 _BAM!_

A loafer attached to a leg suddenly came out, successfully kicking Sykes in the face and forcing him to grab his nose and stagger back.

Sykes stumbled back a bit and he almost fell down, but he managed to stay standing.

He released the grip on his nose to look at his bloody hand, revealing how both his nostrils were now bleeding profusely. After looking surprised for a moment, he glared at the perpetrator.

Inside, Sykes was honestly shocked. He did not sense anyone or anything inside the truck, and the Book did not mention anything either. Of course, his scan was of a low level, only good for finding humans or objects. But still.

That never happens, unless he was dealing with a Fatebreaker, or a…

Sykes widened his metaphorical eyes when he saw who kicked him.

…

The man stepped out of the truck.

The man was wearing a cream tuxedo jacket with a white collared shirt underneath and black pants. In a front pocket was a red handkerchief. There was also a dark blue bow tie on his neck.

He was holding a simple metal saber, from what Sykes could see at the moment. Black hair was greased back on his head, and the color was turning blonde at the ends.

But what made Sykes widen his eyes was what the man was wearing above it all.

A dark purple cloak so very recognizable to Sykes.

…

Sykes hissed.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"I just want to talk, old man." The man calmly replied.

The man dashed forward with the speed of a trained huntsman and slashed down with his saber.

"Talk? About what?" Sykes blocked it with his left sleeve. He was frowning. "What could be so important, sh-"

 _Bang!_

Sykes jumped back when the man shot a bullet from his saber; he had to, or else he would be shot in the head. Sykes now noticed the saber's crossguard was actually a hemisphere, with a short barrel sticking out of it in almost all directions. One of the barrels was releasing smoke.

"I am Specialist Blue, Sykes. You can call me Blue." The now named Blue dashed forward again and attempted to stab Sykes. "For now."

Sykes sidestepped left and shot a fist towards Blue's face when he would have passed. "It was you, then. Who said you could interfere in my plot?"

Blue threw his head back and jumped forward with his legs, causing him to slip under the fist with a flip. He chuckled while doing so.

"I took a look at your _son_ , earlier." Blue landed on his feet and bolted towards Sykes's back. "I've developed quite an interest in him."

Sykes didn't move, allowing the saber to stab his back. However, it was unable to pierce the coat. "And why is that?"

Sykes twisted around and swung a claw at Blue's head.

Blue ducked and held in a chuckle. "Earthlings gotta stick together." Sykes's claw sailed over his head.

Sykes used the spinning momentum to back kick Blue in the face. "His Earth is at least trillions of resets after yours. It's really only the same in name."

Blue was able to parry it away with his saber and sent a quick slash towards Sykes's neck. "Well, there's another reason. It concerns me."

Sykes crouched down and spun so he was facing Blue again. "And that is?" The slash already had passed over his head. He sent a straight claw towards Blue's chest.

Blue definitely noticed the claw, but he did not act on it. "He doesn't care."

He instead jabbed his saber towards Sykes's open chest.

Sykes saw how Blue's reach was much more than his, and how he would be stabbed if he continued.

"What do you mean?" Sykes turned the claw so that it would grab the saber.

"He doesn't really care about other people here." Blue fired the barrel that would shoot a bullet straight to where he was stabbing, Sykes's open chest. "He still sees them as 'characters from an internet show', not real people with souls. Even if he doesn't know it himself. And that is dangerous."

"Just like you did." Sykes stopped his hand in front of the bullet, stopping it. "I can fix him. Like I fixed you."

"I know. That's half the problem." Blue used the recoil to pull back his saber incredibly quickly before stabbing it again, towards Sykes's face. "Will you be using mass murder this time?"

"I will use what works." Sykes stepped forwards to shoot a claw towards Blue's face. "Mass murder works well."

"That's true. It got me caring." Blue tilted his head to dodge the claw. "You always play the bad guy, don't you?"

"I have to." Sykes also tilted his head to dodge the saber.

Blue's dodge wasn't enough, and Sykes's thumb nicked his cheek, but was deflected by aura. It was unknown if it was legitimate aura or not.

He smirked.

" _She_ wouldn't like that, wouldn't she?"

…

Sykes froze. Whatever expression he had on his face immediately turned to a scowl.

The saber sliced his cheek, leaving a deep gash, but Sykes didn't react.

…

Suddenly, Sykes's arm moved at a speed impossible to react to.

…

Blue coughed out a scary amount of blood.

He looked down, and saw Sykes's arm in his chest. It pierced through his entire body, making a hole wider than Sykes's arm. His heart was reduced to mush and thrown somewhere behind him.

It was almost as if he was shot point-blank by a cannon.

There was absolutely no way that Blue would live very much longer.

…

Sykes leaned towards Blue.

" _She_ is _dead._ "

…

Sykes sounded angry. No, _apoplectic_.

If Blue still had a heart, it probably would have stopped from fear. He laughed, despite the overflow of blood coming from his mouth.

"It's always great… to see you angry, Sykes."

Sykes pulled his arm out of Blue.

Blue collapsed to the ground, smiling.

…

"Fuck."

Sykes dragged a hand through his hair, staining that part of his white hair red with blood. He released a massive sigh.

Sykes wasn't in the mood to act anymore. He walked to the transport truck after closing the back doors and got into the cabin.

…

Sykes drove off, leaving behind a corpse, five soldiers, and scrap metal.

And the two observers.

* * *

 **When my computer decided to stop autocorrecting 'i' to 'I', I discovered how I need a beta reader.**

 **So... PM me if your interested.**

 **It'd be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off. And maybe the peer pressure will make me get chapters out faster. That'd be nice.**

 **...**

 **Yeah.**


	16. Sixteen - The Changing Fates

**...**

 **It's been a while.**

 **My well-thought-out excuse is at the end.**

 **...**

 **In other news, I've successfully gotten a beta reader.**

 **...**

 **Yeah**

* * *

Somewhere, there was a small square room, with nothing but concrete on all sides. It was decorated with nothing but a lightbulb hanging from a wire in the center of the ceiling.

This square room gave people a strange impression. As if it was in a dream, and the walls themselves would change the instant you looked away.

…

A man wearing a suit with a purple cloak above it suddenly appeared and stumbled into the room. He fell onto his hands and knees after a couple of shaky steps, panting heavily.

His black-to-blonde hair was disheveled and he was bleeding from the mouth. It was Specialist Blue.

After a moment of pained breathing, he straightened out his torso and put a hand over his heart.

Or rather, the empty space where his heart and a couple of ribs, maybe even a lung would have been. Instead of a full chest, he had a gaping hole on the left side of his body that pierced all the way through. After a moment of testing the damage, he sighed and spoke to nobody in particular.

"Old bastard. Did you have to be so brutal?"

Strangely, while the words definitely came out of Blue's mouth, his mouth did not move at all. It was almost as if his face was just a mask.

…

The man seemed satisfied by the reply he did not receive. He stood up, dusted his suit off with a hand and grabbed his face with the other one.

The man began pulling his face. First, his cheeks were pulled forwards, like it should. The man's face scrunched up more and more, until…

 _Pop!_

The man's face just… popped off.

But that was not all. Now, instead of a suited man, there was a completely cloaked figure standing where he previously was. The purple cloak now covered all sides of the man, and its hood was somehow brought up, hiding the figure's head. If you were in front and looked into the hood, you would only see darkness.

Instead of a face in its hand, the figure was holding a white mask. And instead of an arm or hand, a horrid black tentacle was sticking out of the cloak. The tentacle brought the white mask closer to its face, and it spoke lovingly to it.

"What would I do without you, Masky?"

The figure's voice was raspy and incredibly hard to listen to, substantially different from the suave and confident one it was speaking in before.

The tentacle retreated into the cloak, bringing the mask in with it.

The hooded figure looked around.

"Now then."

The figure disappeared.

…

…

…

No, actually he didn't.

A pitch black magic circle suddenly appeared in front of him, and it shot out a black tendril. The tendril moved at an astounding speed and stabbed the hooded figure through his torso.

Blue looked down. He was not in pain at all.

He sighed.

He recognized the magic circle and tendril. It was a spell from Sykes; only he uses fate in his spells. Only he _can._

He spoke up loudly to the ceiling.

"Really? A seal?" Two tentacles came out of the cloak and were held beside him. "I'm going down there no matter what you think, old man!"

The tentacles reached over to the magic circle and began fiddling with it, in an attempt to find a way to dispel the seal.

…

While doing so, a thought was forced into the young god's head.

 _'I know. But now is not the time.'_

Blue was not surprised by the intrusion of his mind. He got used to it a long, long time ago.

"When, then?! You know this room is boring as hell! I hate it!"

More and more tentacles came out until the entire cloak was forced open. By doing so, Blue's entire form was revealed.

His body was colored a pitch black, with almost unnoticeable streaks of gold flowing across the surface of its body. It was roughly shaped like a human body but closer inspection would reveal that it was actually shaped this way due to its many tentacles being wrapped and woven around each other. Some of the tentacles were unwoven from the others, and they are the ones that are busy looking for a weakness in the magic circle to exploit.

If you followed the tentacles, you would be lead to its chest area, where a golden sphere about the size of a large cantaloupe was kept. This 'core' had curious inscriptions on it that glowed when it pulsed golden light, which it did at a certain interval. All the tentacles were stemming from here.

…

In a word, this was a monster.

And this monster really didn't want to spend any more time in this room than he has to.

 _'Later.'_

The other's voice came through, after waiting a moment to let the monster calm down slightly.

The creepy tentacle monster began grumbling.

"At least let me talk to him."

…

The monster looked up after Sykes did not reply for a good while.

"Hello?"

Sykes spoke to him a little bit after he said that. Maybe he was reminded.

 _'Fine. Do as you wish.'_

"Oh yeah!" One of the monster's tentacles attempted to do something similar to a fist pump.

…

After an hour of fiddling with the seal, the monster looked around at his concrete room.

"I really, really, hate this place."

 **-Break-**

 _Beacon_

In a courtyard, there were a few burning piles of objects. Around the piles were large amounts of ash and melted plastic, most of which have cooled and hardened, giving the courtyard a nice, hard surface to walk on. All the grass in the area was most likely poisoned and killed by now.

…

A man with a tiki torch and an executioner's mask on was looking at the flame on the last pile as it was flickering away. It was incredibly ominous.

Eventually, the flame died after burning one last object; a black t-shirt with a silhouette of a particular girl on it, in a lighter shade of grey. The letter 'B' in a curious font was under the silhouette.

The ominous atmosphere was dissipated along with the flame. The sun was just now able to appear past the smoke again.

…

The man's tiki torch collapsed into a small cup-sized pole, which the man slipped into his coat soon after. The torch was still burning, but the man did not seem to mind.

Markus pulled off his mask to reveal his messy dark blue hair and purple eyes once again. He sighed and smiled after sliding the mask in the coat.

"I feel better already."

Markus turned around, to look at his scared onlookers. Only team RWBY and Jaune showed up. The rest must have gotten used to it by now. Or, maybe they came and left already.

In addition to them were two particular students that he had not been introduced to yet. When he caught sight of the one with light blue hair, his eyes brightened slightly.

Markus started walking towards the one who brightened his eyes.

…

"Shove it, loser."

Markus shouldered Sun out of the way and walked up to Neptune, who had a knowing smirk on his face. Previously, Neptune was most definitely horrified by the hell he was observing. But when Markus pulled off the mask and revealed his glorious blue hair, not unlike Neptune's own, he relaxed substantially.

After all, what has the world come to if you can't even trust those with the same rare hair color as yourself?

…

Markus reached the spot in front of Neptune and used his new position to stare into his eyes, as Neptune stared back. Purple met blue as the two men meaningfully looked each other in the eyes. Markus was slightly taller than Neptune was, so he had to tilt his head slightly.

Both their faces softened after a moment as if they were old friends finally meeting after a decade.

…

Okay, things were getting uncomfortable.

The silence was unspeakable and only broken by the sound of the two blue-haired men breathing on each other, which was not exactly helping either.

…

Eventually, Markus moved.

He offered a hand, and Neptune took it with no hesitation at all. Neptune smiled.

"It's good to meet you, brother."

Neptune and Markus engaged in the secret handshake of the BHB after greeting each other.

Fist bump, shake up, left, right, left, right, let go, flip it, reverse it, slide, and twirl.

This handshake was incredibly complex and intricate. But Neptune and Markus seemed to be perfectly trained in it; they didn't even have to look down.

…

Sun spoke up while they were still performing the handshake.

"Uh… Neptune? You know this guy?"

Neptune looked at Sun, still handshaking with incredible passion.

"Nope, never seen him before in my life."

Neptune continued speaking before Sun could ask his next question.

"But he has blue hair, and is a member of the BHB." Neptune looked back at Markus. "That makes him a close friend."

Sun only became more confused. "...BHB?"

Markus looked back at Sun this time.

"Blue Hair Brotherhood. You could never understand."

It was all clear to Sun now. As a member of a certain secret society similar to the BHB himself, he could perfectly understand the current situation.

Sun nodded. "I see."

…

On the other hand, team RWBY and Jaune did not see. They looked around for any hints.

None came.

The BHB members finished their handshake with a patty-cake. Markus put his arm around Neptune and Neptune did the same. They walked inside.

"Let's go eat lunch, Markus". Neptune spoke to him.

Curiously, Markus never stated his name.

Vocally, that is. The handshake is so intricate that by reading the small motions that your partner makes in between gestures will give you their name, member ID, and shade (of hair). One of the reasons the shake took so long was that Markus had to clarify that it was spelled with a K and not a C.

…

RWBY + J watched as Markus and Neptune walked away while talking about whatever it is seventeen-year-old boys talk about. Sun glanced at them once before running off after them.

…

They were beginning to get real tired of Markus' shenanigans. Jaune and RWBY walked back inside without a word.

 **-Break-**

 _An Apartment Complex_

Sykes was furiously running up staircases.

Furiously, as in quickly and energetically. Sykes himself was not furious in any way. He never feels any emotion for too long.

He looked down at himself. Currently, he was an absolute mess.

The front of his shirt was stained with blood from the collar to his stomach. The blood probably came from his nose, of which the bleeding has since been quenched by two small rolls of tissue paper. Other than that, the right sleeve of his coat was covered in blood and his glove was soaked similarly.

On his body himself, he had part of his white hair dyed red from blood above his right eye. On his left cheek, a large gash could be seen. It had stopped bleeding and began to scab over quite a bit of time ago.

Sykes was wondering whether or not to heal it away completely or leave a scar. On one hand, it's big and ugly. On the other, it characterizes Markus' father further. He ran tests and simulations in his mind and came to a decision. Sykes nodded to himself.

…

Once done with that, he had to decide what role Blue will play in his plot. Blue said that he is going to come down no matter what Sykes thinks, and he was fine with that.

Sykes knows Blue well. He will follow a plan as long as he gets to choose his own backstory and character. It's happened before.

Fortunately for him, there is an empty spot that needs to be filled for his plot to be done most efficiently. Sykes ran more simulations and decided to let Blue take that spot once he was unsealed.

He told Blue what he needs to know for the plot.

…

Sykes was still running up staircases. He noted how there were way too many stairs in this complex.

In his mind, Sykes was concerned. After further analysis of all his previous simulations, an unexpected event occurs.

Someone develops a crush on Markus, soon. And it is the same person every time.

This is a problem, even if Sykes was mildly impressed.

Sykes ran some more simulations and decided to fix this issue before it could actually occur. He stopped at a landing on the infinitely long stairs and took out an old book from his coat.

Opening the book, he flipped through the pages and stopped at a certain one. Both pages were filled with characters that were definitely not of any human language, but they were all too familiar to Sykes. He skim-read the pages until he found the part he was looking for.

So it's true.

…

Every so often, one of the characters would suddenly change into another one. Sykes looked over but was not surprised. It was the influence Fatebreakers have on fated beings, slightly changing their fate with their actions; this influence caused the problem.

Sykes sighed before reaching into his coat and pulling out a completely normal black permanent marker. He popped the cap off with his mouth and scribbled on the page.

 _\- DOES NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH MARKUS QUINN_

The first part was unreadable thanks to Sykes's surprisingly horrible handwriting.

The words were in English, and they were simply written in front of the strange characters, ruining the page. But it did not stay this way for long. The scribbled words started to fade away into the pages, and the characters behind it sped up in their sudden changing while doing so.

After a little bit of time, the scribbled words completely faded, and the characters on the page were now changing and shifting rapidly. The first character past a certain point would transform, and seemingly force the next one to do so as well. This kept going on and on, like a wave.

Sykes looked at the book and took it all in. He loved it when the book rewrote fates.

Then, it stopped. All the characters had now decided on a shape and the pages were complete once again.

All was still and silent in the book, but then a character suddenly changed. Not from the condition he applied, but the Fatebreaker influence once again. Sykes scanned the pages, checking for any issues, and was satisfied when he came up with none. He put everything back in his coat.

…

Sykes smiled evilly before continuing on his upwards trek.

There will be no romance in this story.

Not on his watch.

 **-Break-**

 _Beacon_

Markus slammed his hands on Ozpin's desk.

"Give me music room 3R."

…

Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"And why should I do that, Mr. Quinn?"

Markus took his hands off the desk and began pacing in a circle.

"Considering the huge discrepancy between square footage and student population here at Beacon," Markus crossed his arms and stopped after coming full circle. "And how I have never heard a sound that could even be _mistaken_ for music here in the last four months, I felt that it would not be too much of a problem."

Ozpin sipped from his mug.

Markus slammed his hands on the desk again and continued before he could speak.

"The hallway it is in is _so dusty_ that taking a _step_ in there has a good chance of causing a dust explosion." Markus crossed his arms again. "So give it to me, where it isn't a humongous security risk."

Ozpin leaned back in his chair, cup in hand.

"You don't have the best history of being in a room by yourself, Mr. Quinn." Ozpin was referring to the 'medical room incident', an unfortunate event involving team JNPR, Ozpin, and many papers. "Why should I trust you with this one?"

Markus thought on how accurate Ozpin was to himself before turning around.

"Well, how about a trade, Ozpin?" Markus walked to the elevator. It opened and he rolled a chair out from of it. Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

The chair looked similar to Ozpin's, but less… naked, and warmer. It looked a great deal more comfortable as well.

"This chair for the room." Markus pointed at the chair. "It has gears."

That it did.

"The gears spin when you lean back or spin around." He sat on the chair and leaned back. The gears lined up on the side spun to compensate for the backwards rotation of the chair.

Ozpin leaned forwards on his chair. You could see the interest building on his face.

"And it is much, _much_ comfier than the skeleton chair you have now."

Markus rolled the chair (the gears spin when you roll the chair, too!) over to in front of Ozpin's desk. He weaved his fingers together and leaned on the desk while sitting on it.

Markus stared into Ozpin's eyes as he stared back. Markus smiled.

"How about it, professor?"

…

The staring contest lasted a good minute or two before Ozpin broke it.

"...You've peaked my interest, Mr. Quinn." He looked at Glynda. "What do you think, Glynda?"

Glynda looked up from her tablet sized scroll. She really didn't like how Ozpin was wasting time _bartering_ with a student. And it showed on her face.

"I really don't think you should be-"

…

Ozpin turned back to Markus, allowing Glynda to jabber to herself.

"You've got yourself a deal, Mr. Quinn." Ozpin stood up and offered a hand.

Markus stood up and shook it in return. "Thank you, professor."

Ozpin reached under his desk and took out a golden key. He handed it to Markus.

"Here is the key. I'm sure you will take good care of the room."

"I will." Markus took the key. "Here's your chair." He rolled the chair around the desk and Ozpin grabbed it.

The background sound that no one was really listening to suddenly stopped.

"Are you even listening to me?!"

…

Markus was riding the elevator, going down. He took out the key and held it in front of himself, scanning the grooves closely.

He could tell a master key from a normal key; this one fell into the second category. Markus was disappointed. A master key would really help him, in any future endeavors.

But Markus was not disappointed for long.

You see, Markus has a bullshit god of limitless power on his side. And, said god currently owes him a favor.

On his birthday, Sykes offered three birthday wishes. He currently has two remaining, he already used the first wish on a pair of ninth-dimensional boxers that he can store many objects inside of.

And now, he is going to use the second.

…

 _Sykes._

Markus sent a thought out to him.

Not a minute later, he got a reply.

' _Yes?'_

 _Turn the key into a master key._

A pause.

'… _Why?'_

 _Just do it. It's a birthday wish._

Another pause, before Markus could hear a massive sigh come from inside his mindscape.

 _'Fine. Okay. It's a master key now.'_

Markus saw the key in his hand glow a golden light for a couple seconds, before fading into the original appearance. The grooves did not change at all, but Markus knows that Sykes never lies.

 _Thanks. You're the best._

Markus was only given a sigh in return.

…

Markus slipped the key back in his pocket. The doors opened and Markus walked out.

 _Mission accomplished._

He strolled towards the dorms. It was around 7 PM.

 **-Break-**

Markus rounded the corner to the hallway where team RWBY and JNPR's dorm rooms are. His mind was busy wandering all over the place and his hands were in his coat pockets.

As he was passing team RWBY's room, the door suddenly opened at a deadly speed and almost smashed his teeth in. Luckily, his foot was forward at that moment, stopping the door before it could do any harm. Unluckily, his foot was now jammed between the door and the floor.

Markus was snapped out of his thoughts and he looked back down to see what was happening, while slowly wiggling his foot out of the trap it was in. He leaned to the side and looked around the door.

He saw Ruby crashing into a green-haired girl with dark skin. Behind the girl was a boy with grey hair and another girl with black hair that turned greyish at the ends. He didn't think it was her age that caused this.

Markus widened his eyes before he snuck back behind the door. When he was sure he was hidden, he allowed a scowl to form on his face.

 _Cinder._

He was still pissed at her for being behind Penny's death.

Markus is a very petty person. So, Markus decided to get a piece of revenge now. He cracked his knuckles and wiped the scowl off his face

He still had trouble getting his foot unstuck, but Markus never gives up.

…

"Um, I'm Ruby! Are you new here?" He heard Ruby say. Markus panicked a little. He had to get unstuck soon, or else he would miss his chance.

Markus exerted himself once last time before he finally got his foot out. He had to use the thrusters. Unbelievable!

He passed around the door and saw Emerald stepping to the side to reveal Cinder, who was standing behind her. She spoke while walking forward.

"We're visiting from Haven, actually." Cinder only glanced at Markus before focusing on Ruby. She probably only thought of him as nothing more than a background character. There's a lot of those at Beacon.

Of course, Markus is certainly _not_ a background character. And now that she and Ruby were engaging in a short staring contest, he was going to prove it.

…

Markus silently strolled to a spot just behind Ruby. When he says 'just' he means 'less than an inch'.

Ruby felt a huge shadow begin to loom over her creepily and the uncomfortable heat of a body come from behind. She looked up and saw Markus narrowing his eyes at the girl in front of her.

"M-Markus!" She stuttered. Markus was _way_ too close for comfort.

She tried to slink away but Markus clamped his hands on her shoulders. He was still staring at the girl, who had also moved her stare to Markus. Ruby squirmed in his grip.

Suddenly, Markus widened his eyes and took a step back, bringing Ruby with him. He looked down at Ruby, who was shifting uncomfortably.

"Do you know this… girl?" He pointed his chin at the girl from Haven.

"N-no… I bumped into her friend just now."

"Okay." Markus began to walk past the group of three, steering Ruby in front of him. "Don't talk to her anymore."

Ruby looked up as her feet dragged on the floor. "Why not?"

Markus stopped walking and looked back to stare at Cinder with suspicious eyes.

"For your personal safety. I'm not sure why a woman her _age_ is dressing up as a schoolgirl, but it can't be anything good." Markus sniffed the air. "I can smell her malevolence from here."

Ruby sniffed the air similarly. "I… think that's perfume."

"Exactly."

Markus walked off with Ruby in his grip, leaving the covert/overt comment about Cinder's age and intentions floating in the air.

…

 _Well,_

Mercury smelled the air and looked at a frozen Cinder.

 _He's not wrong._

…

Cinder's mind was split into two parts, fighting over control. One side was furious at this random boy for making a comment about her age. The other half was taking note of the boy's coat.

She recognized that coat. It is the exact same one Sykes wore the first time she saw him. He changed his coat soon after that, but she did not make too much note of that. People can change clothes all they wish.

However, this boy was wearing the exact same one that he previously wore.

Cinder filed that information away for later. The more reasonable part of her brain had won by now and she turned to leave. She still wanted to obliterate the boy into elementary particles, but that would have to wait.

…

"Should I get rid of that boy?" Emerald had a sharp edge to her voice. "He sounds like he knows something."

"No." Cinder sent a glance to her. "I believe he could be… important."

She opened the dorm room's door and stepped in.

"We'll have to see."

 **-Break-**

Markus was walking down a hallway headed towards the library with Ruby hanging from his hands. Ruby was kicking and struggling fiercely, but Markus did not give.

Now, why exactly was Markus holding onto Ruby's shoulders and holding her in the air? While bringing her somewhere?

Markus had no bad intentions, of course. He decided that he needs to work on his upper body strength, and it is a commonly accepted fact that a five-foot-tall, fifteen-year-old girl is a good weight to start at.

…

"Let go, Markus! It hurts!"

"OW!" Markus' knees were in some real deep pain. "Stop kicking! I hurt more!"

"Then let go of me!"

"No! Stop-"

 _CRACK_

"STOP KICKING ME!"

Markus was pretty sure his leg just broke! When did Ruby get so good at hand (foot) to hand (knee) combat!?

…

Ruby seemed to calm down a bit; he could feel her shoulders relax. She stopped kicking him and now was just hanging (out).

Markus let out a sigh of relief. Any more and he was sure that his leg would break for real. From a corner of his eye, he could see Ruby twisting her head towards his right hand.

Markus was not getting any good feelings about that.

 _CHOMP_

…

Markus stopped walking and dropped Ruby right where he was standing. She didn't expect to be dropped so suddenly and was not able to land on her feet.

While on the ground, Ruby rolled her incredibly sore shoulders and looked up at Markus. She was going to hit him with a devastating pout but noticed that he wasn't paying her any attention at all. Instead, he was staring at his right index finger.

…

Markus looked at his finger. There were three small red depressions on the side. One of the depressions had a little blood coming from it.

 _S-she… she bit me._

…

Did it hurt?

Physically, no. Her teeth barely broke through the skin. Markus previously had 'aura', but his below-average reserves were quickly depleted by her kicks.

Emotionally?

Markus could feel the shattered leftover pieces of his heart turn to dust and get blown away by the winds of emotion. A single crystal tear came out of his eye.

Twice, now. Two times he was left broken by Ruby. Two times his heart was shattered. Markus was really lucky he was not in possession of a firearm, as he would probably have shot himself at this moment. Twice.

Choking? Biting?

A new word was added to the antonym list on the word 'innocent', and that word is Ruby Rose.

…

"Huh?" Ruby noticed how Markus was crying. "Markus? I-is something wrong? Why are you crying?"

Markus slowly looked up and straight at Ruby.

"Yes. Something was wrong."

Markus continued before Ruby could ask what.

"I was wrong."

…

Ruby was going to ask what exactly he meant by that, but Markus was staring at her in a way that almost said: _you know what I mean._

Of course, Ruby did not know what he meant. But she did not want to argue with him. So, she turned around and started to walk away. She still needed to get her game back from the library.

Surprisingly, it wasn't far. Only down the hall from where she was currently. Was Markus bringing her there?

…

Before she knew it, Markus was walking beside her. He looked better than he looked five seconds ago, though he was still sometimes sending odd glances at her.

They reached the entrance to the library. Ruby wasn't quite sure why Markus was still sticking around, but she did not mind the company. She tried the door. It was locked.

"No! What time is it?" The library closes at 7:30, though it may have closed earlier due to school starting again tomorrow.

Markus leaned over. "Locked?"

"Yes!"

Markus reached into a coat pocket after a moment of mental debating and took a small golden key from within. The key fit the lock perfectly when he attempted to put it in.

 _Click_

The lock was unlocked easily. Markus looked at the key curiously before slipping it back into the pocket.

"Well, not anymore." Markus walked into the empty library.

Ruby walked in too. "Where'd you get that key from?"

Markus knew where the table they played was. He started for the stairs. "Ozpin gave it to me."

Ruby felt like Markus was not telling the entire truth, but she knows how Markus enjoys using half-truths.

"Huh."

…

Markus sat on an adjacent table and watched from the side as Ruby put away the game. She was lighting up the table with her scroll, as it got dark really quickly. Neither spoke in this indescribable silence.

Comfortable? Maybe, maybe not. It was closer to the kind of silence that occurs when there is really no reason to talk.

…

Markus' mind was going at least a million miles per hour.

He looked around.

 _Empty library._

He looked at Ruby.

 _Ruby._

He looked down at himself.

 _Me._

He looked outside.

 _8 PM._

He looked up.

 _Alone._

…

Now, there are only two ways this can play out. The first is a lovely quiet and calm conversation between two characters and two characters only. When done effectively it should hopefully develop one or both characters in some way.

The second is fifteen years in the slammer. Markus familiarized himself with the laws of Vale in preparation for any event that may occur.

There is no middle point. This is an animated show, are you kidding?

Markus debated in his head. After a very tough and strenuous battle, he finally settled on an option.

…

"So…" Markus broke the silence. "Ruby."

Ruby looked over. Many things were already wrong.

First, Markus called her by name. He never does that, for whatever reason. Second, Markus was speaking in a tone she had never heard him talk in.

Apprehension? From what she has seen, Markus is almost never seriously anxious or stressed about anything, really. It would have been never, but she could tell Markus was agitated that one time around four months ago.

…

"How's…" He ran a hand through his hair. "How's your sister doing?"

Ruby did not think much of this question at first, but then the insinuations crashed down on her all at once. She hasn't thought much about his and Yang's… relationship since the beginning of the school year.

"Oh…"

Why is that, she wondered. Something as important as that wouldn't just phase out of her mind for an entire semester, would it?

"Well… she's better, I guess…?" Ruby looked at Markus nervously. She doesn't like talking about stuff like this.

Markus frowned. He looked unsatisfied and stared at Ruby for her to continue.

"U-um…" Ruby really didn't know what to say.

…

"Well… when you're in the room, she… doesn't talk."

Markus raised an eyebrow.

"Like, at all." Ruby took a deep breath and sifted through her recent memories.

"I don't think she hates you anymore. But when she sees you, she doesn't act like herself."

"Oh." Markus hopped off the table he was sitting on and began to help put away the game. "And what is 'herself'?"

Ruby did not reply, instead only looking at Markus oddly.

…

Markus spoke after a moment of silence.

"Well, I don't know. I've never seen her normal personality."

"...Oh!" Ruby flinched as it suddenly hit her. Markus has never seen Yang act normal. Why would he?

Again! Yang's and Markus' relationship just slipped out of her mind. What is going on?

"Ah, well, she's loud, and kinda noisy, and-" Ruby listed traits on her fingers as she spoke. She spoke exponentially faster and faster as she went on.

Markus nodded along as he listened all about a girl he has never actually seen.

…

…

…

"Okay, Ruby, I think that's enough". Markus spoke up after a while.

"I really didn't want a play-by-play of her entire life up until Beacon."

Markus had a very bad headache at the moment. It felt like someone was trying to drive a nail into his temples.

Why?

Because Ruby would just not _shut up._

Once done with a thorough description of every single character trait Yang has, using vocabulary reaching far beyond what Markus could comprehend, she gave an in-depth autobiography of most of her sister's life. Right now, they were up to her first year of Signal. Ruby wasn't even there at that time; he wasn't sure how she knew.

"-but the teacher said... huh?" Ruby flinched as she seemed to realize what she was doing.

She looked down. The game was completely packed up and ready to be taken away for a long time now.

She looked back up at a clearly in-pain Markus.

"Sorry…" Ruby rubbed the back of her head and chuckled nervously. "How… how long was I talking?"

Markus massaged his temples one last time before taking out his scroll. After a glance, he slid it back into his pocket.

"About four hours."

…

…

…

Ruby slowly came back to her senses.

She opened her eyes to see Markus looking straight down at her with a blank expression. In her current groggy state, she only had one thing on her mind.

…

 _Was… was he always this tall?_

Now, Markus, being six foot four, quite literally towers above Ruby. But, now his face was much further away from her than it is usually.

"Were you always… this tall?" Ruby spoke what was on her mind.

Markus blinked.

"You're lying on the ground."

Ruby turned her head. She was indeed lying on the library floor, and Markus was actually squatting beside her.

"…Why…?"

"You fainted."

…

Ruby almost instantaneously shot up after a moment of recollection. She unintentionally headbutted Markus's face by doing so, but she did not seem to notice. This was no weak headbutt, either.

"Oh no!" She used her semblance to dash to the table and grab the game box.

She lost track of time. Four hours?! Her team is probably wondering where she is!

She looked at Markus, who was lying on the ground and unmoving.

"Bye, Markus!" She barely was able to finish before she shot off at enhanced speeds.

…

The library was quiet once again.

…

…

…

Markus didn't get up.

He was unconscious.

 _ **-End of Part 3-**_

* * *

 **My excuse was that I was struck by a very ferocious case of writer's block.**

 **That's all you're getting.**

 **...**

 **But chapters should be speeding up in the future. That's good.**


	17. Seventeen - New Days

**Greetings. That's right, the author has ascended from hell once again.**

 **A lot has happened in the last almost-year. But finally, the author is back writing again. After no less than 5 rewrites and an apology to the beta, this story is, as far as the author is concerned, back on track. Of course, there is the possibility of the author spontaneously dying again. It will probably not happen. The author has run out of other ways to spend his time.**

 **On this monumental day of 4/20*, both the author (was I high when I wrote this?) and the reader (was I high when I read this?) can relate unlike any other day. The author read back and wants to re-do the earlier chapters, remove some scenes and add some new ones, for proper continuity. Will the author ever do this?**

 **No. I** **will not. This is a promise.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

…

It was nine in the morning.

Markus opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a ceiling.

He recognized this ceiling. It was not the ceiling of the library, nor that of medial room 318, but rather that of medical room 317. He knew this because he prefers using 317's toilet over 318's. There was a water stain in the shape of a brontosaurus.

The change of location did not ring any alarm bells in him, but this was likely because he really did not want to wake up. In fact, due to the dream he was having, he would rather be dead than awake.

He's died before. He's much more comfortable with that.

Markus continued to lay there, motionless, praying for the ability to go back to sleep and continue the dream.

…

Markus failed.

Sitting up, he finally noticed the gauze that was taped on his nose, likely for the entire time. He didn't feel any pain or any other form of discomfort, even when he jostled his nose rather roughly, so he went ahead and tried to pull it off.

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

…

"You're awake."

Markus froze. He was still in the middle of painfully tearing the tape off his cheeks, and he was crying the slightest bit.

There was a woman sitting in a rolling chair near the bed, with legs crossed and a clipboard on her lap. She had long, well-taken care of brown hair and a lab coat. Her also-brown eyes would have given an aura of gentleness, if only she didn't look ever so slightly pissed all the time.

Her name was Dr. Thorn, professionally. If you were close friends, you would call her Fennia.

Dr. Thorn did not have any close friends. No one called her Fennia.

Dr. Thorn does, however, have a nickname among Beacon staff. They call her 'Nurse'. The source of this name is unknown.

Thanks to that, despite being a fully capable doctor, she is usually relegated to nurse duties. Perhaps this is why she looks so pissed.

She certainly does make a doctor's paycheck though, and so she does not complain (supposedly).

But Markus did not know this.

…

"Who are you?" Markus was able to make out a figure despite the tears blurring his vision.

"I'm your attending physician."

"Neat." Markus quickly re-applied the tape to his cheek. "Why am I here?"

Dr. Thorn narrowed her eyes at Markus' failure at secrecy. "...You're here because I brought you here. I found you dying on the floor of the library."

"Dying?"

"Yep." She flipped through the papers on her clipboard. "Completely shattered nose. Fifty-six fractures. You were also about to bleed to death."

"Fifty-six?" Markus felt his nose. "That's a lot of bones."

Dr. Thorn ignored that. "You're very lucky. The bone putty from the last time you shattered your skull was still soft, and I was able to re-set it easily. Whole operation took two minutes, tops."

"Is that… good?" Markus wasn't sure how to feel about the fact he was healed from potentially terminal injuries in only two minutes.

"For huntsmen, yes. Got to get out and fight again as soon a possible, and all that jazz." Dr. Thorn clicked her pen. "Speaking of which, you're a huntsman, aren't you? What could do so much damage? Were you hit by a meteor?"

"No, I was hit by a fifteen year old girl."

Is what Markus _didn't_ say, because that would be the most humiliating thing that could possibly come out of his own mouth.

…

"...Something like that, yeah."

Dr. Thorn raised an eyebrow at Markus as he stared back (he was still crying).

"Okay." She broke eye contact first by focusing back on her clipboard. She clicked her pen. "One more thing before I can leave. How do you feel?"

"What?"

"How much pain are you feeling right now, at this very moment?" Dr. Thorn lifted the clipboard to show to Markus. On it was a series of ten smiley faces. The very last one was not smiling. "From one to ten, please."

Markus stared at the paper for a while. He was having issues comprehending why such a system was being used in the actual, real, world.

"Uh… one."

Dr. Thorn drew a circle around a smiley. She clicked her pen and slipped it away.

"Cool." She stood up. "You're discharged."

"Can you do that?"

"Don't ask stupid questions. I'm a doctor."

"Sorry."

Dr. Thorn nodded and unlocked the door. As she was stepping out, "It's around nine, by the way. Wouldn't want to miss the first day of school, would you?"

She did not wait for a response before leaving the room and allowing the door to close.

…

Markus nodded absent-mindedly. There was a befuddled expression on his face and a good many things on his mind.

For example:

 _Was she watching me sleep?_

 _How long was she watching me sleep?_

 _Why was the door locked?_

One and two were answered as follows: Yes and Unknown.

As for that last one, no matter how hard Markus thought about it, he could not conjure up an acceptable explanation as for why this doctor would lock herself into a room with a patient.

Well, no, not really. There were a few possible situations, but Markus crossed those out for other reasons.

…

Markus shook his head to clear up his mind. He had, after all, only been awake for a few minutes.

He noticed that his coat was neatly folded and placed on a second rolling chair. He lifted his sheets and also discovered that he still had his Beacon-supplied dress shirt and pants on.

In a dark corner of his brain, he was worried that the doctor may have taken off his clothes. Those concerns were alleviated.

Not that he would have minded either way. She's pretty.

…

Markus hopped off his bed and grabbed his coat.

Slinging it over his shoulder, he walked out of the room.

It was a brand new day. The first day of the rest of his life, one could say. Everything he was looking forward to in the future was, as is in the name, in the future.

Markus stood in the hallway and pondered.

…

Eventually, he decided on something. He started down the hallway.

Markus walked exactly one door down and entered medical room 318. Inside, he dropped all his clothes and crawled into bed.

Markus doesn't want to go to school anymore. He doesn't want to be trapped in Beacon anymore. He wants to explore. Travel the world, fight Grimm, do whatever he wants. Not be here.

Beacon will fall. He knows this. That's his chance to get out of here.

He can wait.

It was his greatest skill.

 **-Break-**

Sykes opened the shutter on the back of a truck.

It was the morning, and Sykes was in some dusty warehouse with his boss, his bosses second, and his truck (which he stole).

…

Sykes stood proudly in front of the opened storage compartment. He gestured inside. "Here it is."

Roman squinted as he looked inside. He could only see so far in the darkness, but he did get an incredibly good view of boxes.

"This is… great. Really, really great." His head swiveled around as he looked at Sykes. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Sykes tilted his head. "What?"

"Like, for example." Roman gestured into the compartment. " _Where_ is the giant robot?"

"Robot?"

"I was promised a robot! A giant one! There's no robot here! Where is the robot?!" An accusatory finger was pointed at Sykes. "Did you steal it?"

Sykes scratched the back of his neck. "Well, yes. How else would I have gotten it?"

"That's not what I meant!" Roman got a good, long look at Sykes, who was just standing there dumbly. "Look. I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. If we don't get a robot before tomorrow, we're all dead! You think Atlas is gonna send another one through here?!"

Roman let that sink in. The words did not seem to scare Sykes in the least. Just as he was going to threaten him some more, Sykes broke the silence.

"Oh!" He took an extremely thick handbook from inside his coat. "This book was in the cabin. Is that the robot, boss?" Sykes tossed the book over.

Roman grunted as he caught it. The book had to have five-hundred pages, at least. He flipped the book until he found the front.

"Paladin… 210." Along with those words, a wireframe image of the robot in question was printed on the cover. "Yeah! This is it." Roman flipped through the pages. Specifications, field tests, warnings, help lines, everything someone that needs to maintain a huge thirty-foot-tall monstrosity of a robot would find useful.

Unfortunately, no thirty-foot-tall monstrosity was in the book.

"Again, this is really, really great. But we still have a-" Roman's words got caught in his mouth.

One could see his face pale at the words written on the page he stopped at. Roman slowly put down the handbook, and walked over to the back of the truck.

Pulling off the cover of one of the boxes, he peered in.

Inside was an array of nuts, bolts, screws, nails, and everything else someone would need to, say, _assemble_ a thirty-foot-tall monstrosity.

Roman put the cover back on.

…

"You're kidding." Roman laughed to himself. "Please tell me you're kidding."

...

As Roman slowly lost his sanity, Sykes strolled over and picked up the book. He glanced at the open page before going "Oh".

Roman began to bash his head into the walls of the truck. Sykes could tell Neo, who appeared suddenly, also wanted a peek at the book. He held the book out for her. She took it.

And, in bold lettering, right in the center of the page, the book read:

 **Paladin-210**

 **[Assembly instructions]**

 **Estimated time for assembly: 200 hours**

…

Roman continued to bash his own head into the wall.

Sykes pulled an adjustable wrench out of his coat.

Neo stared at the words on the page, as if she might have read it wrong the first twenty times.

They all had a very busy day ahead of them.

…

 **-Break-**

…

Weeks passed.

Or maybe not. Markus no longer had a good idea of the date.

…

Markus was sitting on a park bench with his arms spread across the back. His head was reclined fully, and he breathed in the scent of cherry trees. Which was odd, because he never once saw a cherry tree. He didn't know they made a smell, too.

Nowadays, all Markus does is sleep, eat, summon cool RWBY merch, and take walks in courtyards. He missed this feeling, being alone with his thoughts. He feels like he can only really know himself when like this.

He hasn't seen a main character in what felt like days, and he hasn't interacted with one in even longer. Markus has not had any of his bones broken in this length of time, either. He feels like that this could be a new record.

On the other hand, he hasn't shown up to a single class. They did send people after him, yes, but Markus could outrun them.

…

As Markus was wondering what year it was, a voice came from in front of him. He didn't hear anyone come by.

"Mr. Quinn. Is there room on that bench?"

Markus opened an eye to peek.

…

"Ozpin." Markus reset the 'seconds since last spoken to a main character' counter. He lifted his head straight. "I don't know. Depends on what you want."

"Don't worry, I just want to talk." Ozpin went ahead and sat next to Markus. Markus scooted over and brought his arm back to his own side.

Markus leaned his head back again. He tried to enter his 'zone', so as to have a reason to ignore Ozpin.

Ozpin sipped from his mug. He thought Markus must be quite smart to find a nice, quiet place to sit, such as this one. "You haven't been showing up to class recently, you know. You even missed midterms."

"Really? I had no idea." The breeze picked up. It tickled Markus' neck. He liked the feeling.

Ozpin sighed; the sarcasm was definitely not lost on him. He sipped from his mug. He quite enjoyed the gentle wind, even if it made his mug cool down faster.

They sat there, without a word, for at least a minute.

…

"Mr. Quinn, do you know why I let you into Beacon?" Ozpin spoke up.

Markus was roused from his sleep. "Huh?"

"Before the start of last semester, I found a paper on my desk." He sipped from his mug. "An application, even though the deadline was months before. It was mostly empty. No references, no records, no transcripts."

Ozpin looked over. Markus was looking back, with a expression of curiosity and a strange glint in his eyes. He knew he had caught Markus' attention.

"As an educator, it was as if someone had appeared from thin air and applied for Beacon. We get applicants like this every so often- maybe it was someone who trained in isolation all their life and was finally released into the world. Typically, the applicant would be rejected, and I'd be on my merry way."

Ozpin leaned back the slightest bit, and sipped from his mug. "But, this one must have caught my eye. Before I knew it, I had personally accepted him into Beacon. At the moment, I thought nothing of it. I had accepted another just earlier, and soon forgot about it."

"Ruby?"

Ozpin twisted the tables on Markus, and ignored him. "Days passed, and finally I had the opportunity to see the applicant in action, at Initiation. Frankly, I was unimpressed. Aside from abnormal speed, the applicant showed an apparent distaste for teamwork and fighting Grimm, which was the point of the initiation, and huntsmen in general. I still had the opportunity to turn him down, but I didn't."

Ozpin shifted in his seat so that he could look Markus in the eyes.

"So, I'll ask again. Mr. Quinn, do _you_ know why I let you into Beacon?"

The wind died down.

Markus felt tiny under Ozpin's stare, but he couldn't gather the strength to look away.

No one told him it would be like this! Yes, it was true that Markus made it into Beacon on pure bullshit. He would be the first to admit it. But how would he have known someone would actually catch on? I mean, they didn't with Jaune!

"Uh… How would I know?" Markus threw together a sentence in the middle of all his thoughts. "Do you think I can read minds?"

Ozpin looked at Markus for a second longer before he turned away.

"Well, I must be thinking too much. Maybe I'm just getting old." He sipped from his mug, again, and stopped talking.

Markus carefully glanced at Ozpin a few times before he was able to relax again.

They sat like this, similar to before, for a few minutes.

…

Markus heard a buzzing sound coming from beside him. Ozpin stood back up after touching something inside his pocket. "Well, I must be going. I quite enjoyed this quiet time outside."

"Yeah." Markus raised a hand in goodbye.

Ozpin walked away, but only made it a few steps before he looked back.

"And… Mr. Quinn, I won't force you to go to class. I'm sure you have your own reasons for your choices. But I will ask for you to interact with your friends once again. Your time here in Beacon will go by in the blink of an eye, I'm told. Enjoy it while you can."

Markus raised his head. After a moment, he replied.

"Goodbye, Ozpin."

"Goodbye, Mr. Quinn." Ozpin walked off, for real this time.

…

Markus was left, alone, on his bench. He stood up.

"Bleagh."

Something must of caught in his throat. Maybe he was allergic to this spot, or maybe he was allergic to Ozpin. He patted off any dust or pollen that may have caught on his coat, and walked off in no particular direction.

His hands found their way into his pockets. "Blink of an eye, huh…"

He headed towards medical room 318. It was lunchtime, and lunchtime meant it was time to summon cool merch.

…

…

…

Markus opened the door to his room. Immediately, he felt constricted, and if he had claustrophobia, he probably would have gone into shock.

The reason for this was, of course, the immense amount of RWBY-branded merchandise all stuffed in this one room. The walls were wallpapered with posters, and the one window in the room was completely blocked by a wall of plushies. Clothes that did not belong to him, but were his size, had been all thrown on the floor.

There was no light in this room, aside from that of the RWBY™ Four-colored Lamp (limited edition).

It was actually a nightmare. And Markus lived here.

…

Markus looked around, after searching for the lamp in the pitch-blackness.

Fortunately, he came prepared. On his way here, he had grabbed many cardboard boxes.

He decided that enough was enough, and it was time to move out. He planned to move all his stuff to music room 3R. He has the room, but he never did anything with it. Today was the day.

Now, he stood in the center of the room, with a roll of duct tape in one hand and an unfolded cardboard box in the other.

He was most definitely intimidated by all the stuff in the room. But he was not scared. It was all his creation. _He_ was the master here.

He pulled the duct tape from its roll.

 **-Break-**

"Excuse me."

A young man wearing white clothing turned around at the voice. He was previously peering around a corner, looking extremely suspicious.

"Can I help you?" Ozpin said. He didn't think he recognized the man, and found his behavior odd.

"Ah… uh…" The man stuttered, but then his eyes seemed to flash as he recognized the man standing in front of him. "Oh! Yes, just the man I was looking for. I'm looking for a boy, a student at your school."

Ozpin put a hand to his chin. "Hm?"

"He's strangely tall for someone his age, darkish blue hair, wears a coat all the time, runs a lot? His name is Markus, if it helps."

Ozpin hummed again.

Nope, he did not recognize the man in front of him. "Before that, you are?"

"Me?" The man pointed to himself. "Oh, yes, my mistake. My name is Blue. My title is Specialist Blue. You can call me either. It's nice to meet you, Professor." Blue offered a hand forward after taking off his glove.

Ozpin took it, but after a moment of hesitation. "Specialist?"

Blue shook the hand vigorously. "Yes, yes. Graduated from Atlas in the 221st class, eight years ago. Joined the army right after, like everyone else."

Ozpin's hand remained in the air for a moment after it was released. He pulled it back to his side. "I see. And in relation to Markus?"

"Hmm?" Blue pulled his glove back on. "Oh. Guardian, I suppose. I'm not here on official business. Just as a… a concerned guardian."

"You know his father?" Ozpin asked.

Blue paused, then put his hands up defensively. "Hey now, I didn't come here to play twenty-one questions, professor. If you can't tell me, I can look for him myself."

"My mistake, Mr. Blue." Ozpin shook his head. "Yes, I can tell you where Markus is. Even though class is in session, I believe he should still be out. I just spoke to him a few minutes ago."

Ozpin pointed Blue to a direction.

…

"Thanks, professor." Blue walked off.

Ozpin watched him go. Something about Blue put him off, but he wasn't sure what. Just like Markus. Just like...

…

Ozpin turned around to leave after a moment of thought.

On the way, he pulled a device out of his pocket and held it up near his face. "Glynda, did we allow a guardian on campus today?"

 **-Break-**

Blue stood outside medical room 318. From where he stood, he could hear movement inside.

He was excited beyond words. It's been an extremely long time since he even thought of Earth, and even longer since he thought of the people from it. When he received the news that Sykes had found a Fatebreaker from Earth, he dropped everything he was doing and shot towards the world he was told about at maximum speed. Frankly, he was beginning to forget about Earth.

And why wouldn't he? He's been to thousands, maybe even millions of worlds at this point, and he didn't even have a human body anymore.

What was Markus' Earth like? Was it different? Was it the same? Nuclear wasteland? Alien invasion? Magic? Other human-like species?

From what he remembers, his Earth had none of those things.

But his Earth ended long ago.

…

Blue stood in front of the door. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

But gods don't get nervous. At least, that's what he believes.

Blue put his hand on the doorknob, took a breath, and pushed it open.

Inside, he saw a mostly cleaned room, with taped cardboard boxes almost everywhere. There was still some lingering objects lying around, and he could guess that Markus was trying to pack it all away.

Speaking of Markus, he saw a boy matching the description given to him by Sykes wrangling with an overfilled cardboard box. He looked like he was having trouble keeping it closed.

Blue raised a hand. An Earthling, other than him. He almost couldn't believe it. "Are… are you Markus?"

"Huh?" Markus' head spun around. "Yeah, sure am. Do me a favor and pass me that tape." He pointed at a roll of tape on the floor.

Blue froze on the spot. That accent… he hasn't heard one like it in forever! He tried to place it, but he couldn't remember specifics.

"Hello? You deaf? Tape please!"

Blue jolted where he stood. "Sorry! Here it is." He tossed the roll over.

Markus looked at him strangely before he got to work taping the box closed.

Blue was really, truly, in a state. This utter rudeness! In his current circles, no one would dare talk to him like that. No one treats their friends like Earthlings do, he believes.

His vision wandered around as Markus finished with the box. He saw a line of different weapons hung on the wall . Were they his? "Hey, cool weapons. What are they?"

"Hm? Oh, those are some of my most treasured possessions." Markus stood up, wiped his forehead, and walked over. "A replica of Crescent Rose, fully functional, with transformations and a bunch of other cool gimmicks."

Markus pulled the scythe off the wall and held it in one hand. "One-fourth scale. Cool, huh?"

Blue stared at the small scythe. It looked really, really, underwhelming. "Yeah… I guess. And that?"

"Oooh. This," Markus pulled off another weapon. "This is a hammer, a replica of one used by…" Markus sent a sidelong glance to Blue. "...another student. Really powerful. Also, it can shoot grenades."

Blue took the hammer from Markus' hands and eyed it carefully. "Is the original this small?"

"Uh… no. This is one-tenth scale. I hammer nails with it."

"Very… very cool." Blue handed the hammer back.

Markus threw one of his 'most treasured possessions' in a box without looking. "Oh yeah. I forgot to ask."

Blue put his hands in his pockets. "Hm?"

"Who are you?" Markus crossed his arms. "And how come you tried to get all buddy-buddy with me? You think I wouldn't notice?"

"Oh! Yes, you are absolutely right." Blue was waiting patiently for this very moment, and the excitement showed on his face.

Specialist Blue straightened his back, gave his most charming smile, and offered his hand.

"Hello, Markus. My name is Blue, and I am both an Earthling and a Fatebreaker, just like you."

Markus blinked, before freezing.

* * *

 ***Yes, the author realizes 4/20 was yesterday. Don't tease me.**


	18. Eighteen - Blue Days

**Expect one chapter per week. If I'm feeling funky I might upload a bonus but otherwise that is what'll happen. The author rarely feels funky.**

* * *

In a small flower box that a hung from a window, a flower was planted. No one planted this flower.

See, the flower box was the unfortunate victim of poor architectural design and was impossible to reach through normal means. The window behind it was unopenable, as well. Dozens of these flower boxes hung on windows all along the medical wing of Beacon.

Fortunately, even without human interaction, many plants could grow here, especially ivy and other viney plants. But in this particular box, a flower bloomed, even with the ivy constricting it.

Five-pointed and white, the flower did not face the sun. Rather, it faced the window right beside its home. And through this window…

…

Markus snorted after a moment of silence. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Huh?" Blue's hand visibly faltered.

"You really think I wouldn't see through you? You're Sykes in disguise, aren't you? It was obvious the moment you walked in. And just in time, too. I was just starting to get lonely."

Blue paused for a moment until suddenly his eyebrows folded in irritation.

"No! I'm not Sykes! My name is Blue, and I was just like you! I died, Sykes found me, and I reincarnated!" Blue sounded pretty mad. He was pretty mad. All this time he waited, and he didn't believe him? "I chose the light! The light!"

Markus didn't falter. "Blue? What kind of name is that? Were your parents idiots? Raptors? Make up a real name, why don't you?"

"Okay, fine! It's not my real name, but I don't even remember my name! Besides, we're not on Earth! Why would I need my Earth name?" Blue turned his open hand into a threatening point. "I don't think you realize _you're_ the weird one here! Tons of people change their names after they die! Who keeps the same name even in different worlds?!"

Markus, unshaken, tightened his crossed arms. "I am perfectly secure with my current name, thank you very much."

"It doesn't even fit in this world!"

Markus's eyes narrowed. The amount of emotion from this man was uncharacteristic of Sykes. And the glare that he was getting didn't make him nervous inside as Sykes' would.

"Prove it."

Blue's glare was cut short. "Huh?"

"Prove to me, without a shadow of a doubt, that you are from Earth. Right now. Tell me something only someone from Earth would know."

Blue's face crinkled in confusion. What? Right now? On the spot? He quickly got to work thinking.

Markus and Co. stood there, opposing each other, as Blue thought of something to say and Markus waited.

…

Blue's eyes flashed. He got something.

His confidence skyrocketed. Crossing his arms, he looked into Markus's eyes resolutely.

"When I was in the fifth grade, I wore Heelys."

…

From where Blue stood, it was almost magical. The way Markus's eyes shook. The way his hands suddenly twitched. How his jaw almost dropped.

"Ahem." Markus coughed into his fist. After, he pointed at the door behind Blue with a shaky hand. "Close the door, then we can talk, Blue."

Blue smiled. Now, _this_ was what he was waiting for.

…

…

…

Markus and Blue sat on cardboard boxes, facing each other. Now that Markus wasn't narrowing his eyes so much, he could get a good look at Blue's face.

Frankly, the name 'Blue' was really on the nose. With combed blue hair (though, not as dark of a blue as Markus's own), and calming blue eyes, it seemed that everything that could be blue was blue. Other than that, he had smooth skin, sharp eyes, yadda yadda yadda. There wasn't anything else too surprising about his appearance, especially among boys in Beacon. He was awfully pale, but that wasn't too odd here on Remnant.

He was wearing white and fancy clothing that appeared to be custom-tailored to fit his body. It gave a 'military' impression. Markus was accustomed to Remnant enough at this point to know that this likely pointed to Atlas. Also, there was a purple handkerchief in his breast pocket.

Strangely, he didn't carry a weapon. Maybe he just didn't bring it along with him, or he fought with his body (which Markus was really getting sick of seeing).

When finished eyeing him, Markus finally spoke. "So. First things first. Who are you supposed to be?"

"What do you mean by that?" Blue weaved his fingers together. He was enjoying _something_ about the situation.

"Well, like Sykes did with me, I really doubt he just let you into the world and said, 'go wild'. So, who are you? A student? From Atlas?"

"Ooh, very observant." Blue smiled. "Yes, that first part is absolutely right. He wouldn't let me romp around freely. I have a role in all this. I am…"

As if an invisible and unheard drumroll had begun, Blue paused for a moment, with his hands spread wide open.

"Your uncle! Uncle Blue, the specialist from Atlas!" Blue pointed a thumb at himself. "Cool, huh?"

The show Blue put on was lost on Markus. He put a hand to his chin. "Uncle? How old are you supposed to be?"

"Twenty-nine! I'm still young."

While he had the physique of someone older, he most definitely did not have the skin. But again, there is no such thing as imperfect skin on Remnant. Markus chose to believe him. "And you're a specialist? Like Winter?"

"Yep." Blue leaned in to whisper as if what he was about to tell him was just a part of a larger conspiracy. "Supposedly, I went to Atlas academy for four years and then joined the army. I don't know who this 'Winter' is, but if she did the same, then yeah, I guess so."

One of Markus's eyebrows jumped up. "Seriously? Winter Schnee? White hair, strong, pretty, cool? Fought with Qrow once?"

Blue tilted his head. "Not a clue."

Markus's eyebrows shot back down, and now they furrowed strongly. He turned his head so that now he was giving Blue a sideways look. "You… you've seen RWBY before, right?"

"Ruby? Like, a TV show?"

"Well, no, it was a web series. Lead by a team of girls, they fight evil, blah blah blah. You've really never even heard of it?"

Blue had an expression on his face that reminded Markus of a lost animal.

"Then… what are you doing here?"

Blue was about to speak, but instead suddenly stood up, as if an urgent situation had arisen. He approached Markus and grabbed both of his shoulders.

"Wait. Markus." Blue stared straight into his eyes. "You're telling me… that this world, Remnant, the very planet we are standing on, is the setting of… a TV show?"

"Uh, I said it's a web series." Markus shrugged in an attempt to get rid of Blue's hands, but they were like steel. "But yeah, that's the gist of it."

Blue stared at Markus's face, seemingly checking for any lies. His eyes bounced and focused around, even though the only thing in front of him was Markus.

Very soon after, he let go of Markus. He backed away and seemed to be in a daze.

"TV show… Remnant… Ruby…" After saying those three somewhat related words, Blue suddenly burst out into laughter. Like he had heard the world's funniest joke, he laughed and laughed.

Markus was starting to get a little freaked out. Why is everyone he is supposed to be family with extremely prone to sudden outbursts of laughter? Is he, himself, also at risk? Perhaps it's a disease on Remnant that only aliens can get?

Blue started to clap his hands together heavily. "Interesting! Very, very interesting!"

…

After coughing out a few more chuckles, Blue seemed to notice how Markus was trying to get as far away as possible. He scratched the back of his head. "Oh… sorry. It's just that I've never seen anything like this before. I've heard that worlds that exist elsewhere are real, but I've never been on one. Or, at least, never known I've been on one."

Blue sat back down and pointed both hands at Markus. "And you, you say that this one was a TV show, on Earth? I have never been in a situation like this before." He leaned in. "That means that you know a bit of the future of this place, yeah?"

"Um… yeah, I guess. Only, like, a year or something. Please don't laugh."

"Haha!" Blue laughed. "It seems… I'm at a disadvantage! I knew it would be worth coming here!"

Markus's face turned sour.

Blue seemed to finally calm down. He stood back up again and offered a hand to Markus. "Alright, I'm pumped! Let's take a walk, and you can show me around this place. Sykes only told me basic information, I still need to familiarize myself."

Markus took the hand, and as soon as he was helped up, Blue was already pulling open the door. "Wait," Markus said.

Blue paused and looked back. "Yeah?"

Markus pointed at the few items not yet packed into boxes and still on the floor. "Help me pack these boxes, then we can go."

Blue looked at the incredibly mundane task presented to him. He sighed.

"...Alright. Fine."

He let go of the door, and it slowly closed behind him.

Oh, how he wanted to go out and explore. Finally be on the learning side of things, again.

But no.

Here he was, god since forever, helping put away weird action figures.

 **-Break-**

In a particular warehouse in a particular city named Vale, a team of a few costumed men and women hammered, screwed, and otherwise constructed what appeared to be a large pair of legs.

In front of the legs, two occupied lawn chairs were set up. In one of them, a man with minty white hair and a black coat sat, and he seemed to sink as far into the chair as he could. In the other, a considerably smaller figure with not enough colors in her hair sat and attempted to sunbathe. There was no sun, they were indoors.

Typically, there would be one more to complete the trio, and upon further observation, there was. He was not sitting in a chair, however, and was instead tightening a bolt somewhere near the knee of the large right leg. His name was Roman Torchwick.

…

The wrench Roman was using was slightly too large for the bolt he was attempting to tighten, and it snapped out from its mouth. It was the single most frustrating thing to ever happen to Roman, but it didn't show.

"You know," Roman started. He put the wrench around the bolt and tried again, "Work such as this reminds me of the good things in life."

Sykes pulled his attention away from his book and looked at Roman.

"Before I got into thievery, long, long ago, I was a normal man, too. I wanted money, power, women, and whatever else a normal man wants." Roman wiped his forehead with his sleeve. His eyeliner was bleeding. "Later, I realized that there was something you need before you can attain anything in life, like, for example, money, power, or women."

Sykes was curious. "And that is?"

"You can get by in this life without charm. You can get by without being pretty, too. You don't even need to be smart, or brave, or whatever." Roman really wanted to stretch his arms above his head and take a break. "Those all help, but you know what you need? What'll make or break a man?"

"What?"

"Hard work. I'll tell you what, here on Remnant, all you need to do is work hard, and everything will fall into place. That is one of the few good things in life. Honest, hard work." The bolt popped out of the wrench again.

Sykes leaned forward in his chair. His elbows were resting on the armrests now.

"Really?"

…

A stainless steel wrench collided with Sykes's forehead.

"NO!"

Both Sykes and Roman recoiled at the same time. Sykes, because, as written above, a five-pound wrench violently struck his head. Roman, because, it appeared that he was about to throw up. He clapped a hand over his mouth. Sykes fell out of his chair.

"Oh, I really think I'm getting sick from this. I think I'm gonna puke." Instead of puking, Roman turned his head to one particular White Fang member and yelled. "Dog Johnson! Bring me a wrench! Smaller than the last one!"

The young White Fang member whose name was neither Dog nor Johnson nodded before quickly running to the nearby truck.

Roman's face turned green for a split second before he had to cover his mouth again. He said, "Ulp… You know, I'm really starting to see the value in the White Fang goons I've been given. I couldn't imagine doing this all by myself."

Sykes stood up from the ground. Rubbing his head, he sat back down.

"You hear that!?" Roman looked up towards the top of the large mechanical legs. He cupped his hands in front of his mouth to amplify his voice. "I appreciate you, you goons! I couldn't do this without you!"

At the very top of the legs, the hips, a White Fang member wearing a welding mask was welding some plates together. Upon Roman's words, she turned off her torch, looked down, and waved. She got right back to welding.

At this very moment, a large step was taken in human-faunus relations, although no one would ever know.

Roman's head twitched as if he had just remembered something. He turned back towards Sykes and Neo. "Speaking of which, I _still_ have no idea why _neither_ of you are helping! Your lives are on the line here, too!" Roman was pointing at both of them with two fingers.

Sykes turned a page in the book he was reading. "My gloves will just damage the equipment. And no, I'm not taking them off." He aimed a thumb at Neo, who sat beside him. "She… doesn't have enough… leverage to be effective."

Roman was already sweating from physical exertion, but now he was sweating from rage. "Don't give me that crap! You know as well-"

"Umm, sorry to interrupt, Mr. Torchwick, but I have your wrench."

Roman's head twisted towards the voice. Immediately, his expression softened. He put his hand on the wrench. "Thank you, Johnson. I will treasure it. You're the only one I can trust anymore."

Taking up the wrench, it was as if he had completely forgotten about everything he was mad about. He walked back to the bolt he was working on.

"Well, Mr. Bolt, have you met my friend, Mr. Wrench? I know you haven't…"

…

Sykes stared at Roman.

He scratched the back of his head. "What… what's wrong with him?"

Neo, who was also staring, shrugged before getting right back to sunbathing (minus the sun).

Dog Johnson, who was nearby, spoke instead. "I kinda like it."

Sykes looked back at his book. "I didn't ask you."

With the White Fang mask on, you could only see Dog Johnson's mouth. And now, his mouth had turned into a frown.

…

 **-Break-**

"This is the cafeteria. Lunch ended thirty minutes ago, so there's no one here."

Blue wrote down something in a pocketbook. "Cool."

…

"This is one of many balconies here at Beacon. I like to look at the moon from them. Especially at midnight."

"Cool."

…

"This is the men's bathroom. There's no one here right now."

"Cool."

…

"This is the women's bathroom. There's no one here either. It's really clean."

"...Cool."

…

"This is a classroom. There's class right now, so don't go in there."

"Cool."

…

"This is a courtyard. There are a lot like it, but this one is my favorite."

"Cool."

…

"This is a dorm room. Not sure whose."

"...Cool."

…

"This is team RWBY's dorm room. I slept here once."

"..."

"They're the main characters."

"Oh, I get it." Blue wrote something in his pocketbook again.

…

"This is team JNPR's dorm room. I used to sleep here a lot."

"You're on this team?"

"No, I slept on the floor." Markus turned around and pointed to a spot on the floor. "Right… there."

"Interesting." Blue scribbled something again.

…

"Well, that's it for Beacon." Markus fell onto a bench in his favorite courtyard.

Blue continued to stand. "R… really? I feel like you skipped a lot of places. Like that entire building… or that one… or that wizard tower."

Markus looked up at the places Blue pointed to. "Well, those buildings are pretty much just empty space. I just showed you the places relevant to anything. And that tower is some communications tower and also Ozpin's office. See that glass window on the top floor? He's probably watching us right now." Markus waved at the tower. "You know who Ozpin is?"

"Yes, Sykes told me about him. I met him, too." Blue looked at the tower. "And no, he's not watching. No one is in that room."

"I was just kidding. You have some really good eyes." The tower was quite far away, after all. Much past the distance at which someone would be able to make out a specific person.

"Hmph." Blue stuck the pocketbook in a pocket and crossed his arms. "That's nothing. I'm a god, after all."

Markus also crossed his arms. "Oh, is that so?" There was not even a trace of surprise in his tone.

"Don't act so surprised, Markus. You're technically a god too, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Markus tore his eyes away from a bird flying far above. "Sykes said 'technically', too. What does that mean?"

"Okay!" Blue was getting excited. "There are three things that you need to be considered a god. One, a way to generate divinity. Two, a way to store it. And three, a way to express that divinity." Blue had held up three fingers, but then pulled two of them back down. "If I'm right, you're just missing the first one, which is why you rely on the bottles Sykes gave to you. Am I correct?"

"I guess." Markus hadn't drank any divinity in weeks, he felt. "Expressing divinity, is that just like 'god of fire' or 'god of water', or whatever you're a god of?"

"It can be a little more complex than that, but essentially, yes."

"Okay." Markus leaned forward, chin in his hands. "So, tell me. What are you god of?"

Blue's eyes flashed brightly, like headlights on a car.

Yes, he had been waiting for this moment to be naturally brought up. A chance to show off how cool he is, to another Earthling. He never gets chances to show off to people, especially people as unaware of godliness as Markus. No, he definitely wasn't going to waste this moment.

…

"Ha… hahaha…" Blue was hunched over, and his back shook with laughter.

Markus was already freaked out.

Slowly, Blue straightened out. "My name… is Blue."

Blue lifted both hands up. "But they call me…"

Behind him, the sky darkened. The ground rumbled with thunder. "Master of… king of…"

The sky was black and starry, even though it was no later than three in the afternoon. The sun was still there, but it did not light up the sky. Markus could hear the crackling and popping as it burned.

"God of…" Blue snapped both fingers and suddenly, the sun exploded.

A supernova, it's called. The sky was no longer black. In fact, it was blindingly white. Markus could barely see, but he could tell that there were some slower-moving beams of light, coming from the clouds. He tried to get a closer look.

Were they… angels?

And then, the ground rumbled again. Far away, a small mountain split open. From inside, he could see a human skeleton arm poke out. A massive, massive skeleton arm. If the skeleton had correct proportions, it had to have been at least a few miles tall.

Luckily the skeleton did not seem to want to evacuate itself completely from the ground. Instead, the arm began slapping at the angels. Every single swipe could take out hundreds, but thousands more took their place.

"I am Blue! God of Dreams!" Thunder rung out as he said that. He maintained the pose he was in for a moment longer.

At that moment, a dozen more mountains cracked open, each apparently housing a skeleton that wanted out.

At this moment, an apparent angel massacre took place. These titans of skeletons easily killed thousands of angels in only tens of swats.

It was too much. _Much, much_ too much.

Blue put his hands back to his sides.

And then, everything went back to normal.

…

Not that anything had happened. Naturally, it was all in Markus's head.

Blue crossed his arms. "Cool, huh?"

…

"Hello? Markus?" He waved his hand in front of Markus's face. "Did I go too far? Don't like skeletons? I thought they were pretty cool."

…

Markus came back to his senses like a meteor had hit the planet.

"Woah!" His head shot back, and hit the bench he was still sitting on. It hurt, yes, but he had bigger things to think about.

"Are you okay? You weren't responding back there."

Markus hissed before leaning forward and grabbing the back of his head with both hands. "Yes, yes. I'm… perfectly O.K.."

"Well, okay. If you say so." Blue sat down beside Markus. "So, what do you think? Isn't it amazing what I can do?"

"Yes." Markus slowly sat up. "I'm jealous. You get something cool like dreams, and I get crap like _branded merchandise._ What? Hello? How can I conquer the world with _branded merchandise?"_

"You want to conquer the world?"

"It was just an example."

"Well, you don't have to worry, either way." Blue turned towards Markus. "As you get stronger and more skilled in using divinity, your power will become broader. I didn't have power over dreams when I first started."

"What did you have, then?"

"Floaters."

"What?"

"Floaters. The little things you see in your eye. I could control them. Completely useless, but it put me on the whole 'see, but can't touch' path, and that eventually lead to illusions. And then, illusions lead me to dreams." Blue turned away again. "I can still control floaters, too."

"Wow." Markus saw something in his eye, but he ignored it. "So what about me?"

"I have no idea. It's all very arbitrary. I've even heard of cases where it's based on the letters the word is made of. I never would have imagined dreams would be my power, but now I'd never give it up for anything."

"Oh." Markus was slightly bummed, but whatever.

They stopped talking, instead both choosing to appreciate the nature around them. Markus fell asleep. Blue closed his eyes too.

…

"Hey, Markus, I have something for you." Blue suddenly spoke up, a while later.

Markus was half asleep. "...Huh?"

Blue held a small metal bottle in his hand, nearly identical to the bottles of divinity given to him by Sykes.

"This is my divinity." Blue looked and sounded slightly tired. "The real stuff. Not like the diluted divinity Sykes gave you. This is pure."

Markus took the bottle and looked closely at it. "What do I do with it?" He began to reach for the cap.

"Don't drink it. It's much, much more powerful than anything you've seen before. And it's useless to you anyway, it is infused with 'dreams', which will reject your power. You'll explode and die, probably."

"So… what do I do with it then?" Markus is only in the business of instant power-ups, thank you.

"I can sense it from anywhere, so if you keep it on your body, I'll be able to help you from wherever. Also, technically it's an extension of my body, so I'll be able to speak with you, telepathically, from the tiny amounts that leak out." Blue yawned loudly. "Cool, huh?"

Markus looked at the bottle. It didn't look like anything special. "Um… yeah, I guess. Thanks, Blue. I'll take care of it."

"Oh… but if you do want to use it, it's essentially the world's strongest anesthesia. Just a whiff will put anything mortal to sleep. It's all related to dreams, after all. A full dose can probably knock out a powerful god for a while. You probably won't run into any anytime soon, but it's good to know." Blue put a finger up. Already, he was looking better. "If you ever want to handle it, make sure you have divinity in you. Otherwise, you'll just knock yourself out."

Markus looked at the bottle in his hand for a moment longer before he slipped it in a pocket he rarely uses.

He mumbled something, but no one heard.

…

Blue stood up and walked in front of Markus, clasping his hands. "Well, it's getting late. I need to go."

Markus was woken up again. "...Go? Go where?"

"Well, I need to… _establish_ myself in this world. Give a natural sense of progression. Can't just pop out of nowhere. That wouldn't be good."

"For who?"

"Mm… for Sykes. There's a balance he needs to maintain." Blue stretched his arms in front of him. "Complex stuff. I'd better listen to him. We're already on thin ice."

Markus yawned and stood up. "You're going to the ship terminals? I'll come with you. I've never been there."

"Nope. I didn't come here by ship."

"How, then?"

"I ran."

Markus tilted his head. "Ran?"

"It's a family thing, I'm told." He winked and made a small wave. "Catch you later, Markus."

And, in the next second, he was gone. Markus could barely get a glimpse of something moving at crazy speeds before it disappeared from view.

Markus blew air out of his mouth. He was about to say something snarky, for closure, but was instead distracted by his own stomach growling for food. He hadn't eaten since the morning, after all.

Markus turned around and walked towards the cafeteria.

It was 5 PM.

* * *

 **Writing author notes are more difficult than the actual** **story**


	19. Nineteen - Free Days

**Hello. I meant to upload this chapter earlier, but instead I watched anime and took standardized tests.**

 **And hello. I appreciate reviewers who take the time to write something out for my story. But I'm not spoiling DIP about this story. You wanna know what happens? Maybe try reading.**

 _ **But author at the rate that you upload that will be in like 6 years-**_

 **Yeah, I know. It hurts me too.**

* * *

Markus roughly sat down on a bland cafeteria bench, a similarly bland platter of food in front of him. Jaune had already been sitting down, and Markus had chosen the seat next to him.

It would be a lie to say Jaune was not surprised. He turned quickly and was ready to start fighting. Maybe he's been conditioned to think anyone who approached him at any mealtime was a bully, Markus thought (he was wrong).

"Hah?" Jaune put his fists up.

Markus stared.

"Oh. It's just you." Jaune put his fists back down. "Sorry, Markus, you scared me."

Markus slowly turned to his food. "Yeah…"

Already, Markus was disappointed. Unlike Blue, Jaune did not resonate with his personality well. They barely had any similar interests and making fun of Jaune would just make him feel bad. Markus definitely wouldn't actively seek out Jaune when he wanted to speak to someone.

The situation, however, was very unfortunate.

"Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you eating alone?" Markus gestured to the zero amount of people sitting nearby. "Where's your team?"

"My… my team?" Jaune rubbed his head. "You're giving me to much credit. It's really-"

"Yeah, I don't care. Where are they?"

"Oh." Jaune's spirits were dampened. "Well, everyone else on the team, and I'm pretty sure all of team RWBY, too, were put into 'advanced combat' for the second semester. That class lasts until six."

"Okay. And you?" Markus spooned peas in his mouth.

"And me? Well… I wasn't put in 'advanced combat'." Jaune looked over. "Are you not in that class? I thought for sure you would be in there."

"Advanced combat? Sounds familiar." Markus spooned more peas. "Maybe."

"You don't know what classes you're in?"

Markus swallowed and skillfully changed the subject. "So, Jaune, I take it you're not doing anything soon. Right?"

"Well, I was going to wait here until everyone's done with their class, but I guess not."

Pathetic.

"Okay. Do you think you can help me with something? I need a strong guy like you."

"I-"

"No, I don't mean battle strength. I mean strength in picking up boxes."

"Boxes? I can handle that."

"Excellent!" Markus stood up powerfully, with his hands slamming the table. "Alright, follow me." Markus began to walk away, leaving his food behind.

"Uh, I'm not done eating, Markus," Jaune said. Markus continued to walk away. "Markus? Markus!"

Eventually, Markus had left the cafeteria while Jaune still sat in front of a cold plate of food. Jaune stared at it, and very observably was agitated by something.

…

Jaune made a noise that sounded like 'k'ahh', and stood up and ran towards the door.

Jaune was successfully peer pressured by one person.

 **-Break-**

A small group of White Fang members hustled and bustled about. This time, their actions were not (directly) nefarious.

In the middle of the tiny crowd stood a large and robotic pair of legs. However, compared to last time, these legs were much more defined, and also supported a small torso.

Roman was really, really, really lucky that there was an electrician and welder among the White Fang members given to him. It would have been virtually impossible to build any amount of the robot without them.

…

"This brings me back to the good days. I was fishing with pa, and…"

Sykes wasn't sure what could have happened in Roman's life to affect him this much. Maybe it was a coping mechanism of some sort.

Because ever since Roman got to work, he has not stopped yapping and yapping and yapping. Always, _always_ yapping. If it wasn't some sort of moral anecdote, it was a fairytale. If it wasn't a fairytale, it was a life story. There was a measurable point some time ago where Roman's lips never stopped moving.

…

"Now, this was a big bass. I'm talking twenty-five pounds. World record material, right?"

"The record is only twenty-four, isn't it?" A White Fang member asked, while screwing circuit boards to a chassis.

"Yeah. Twenty-four point six. Some guy in Atlas fished it up. Heard it grew blubber to survive." Roman took a nail out of his mouth. "Really shouldn't have counted. Thing was a brand new species. You ever fish, Johnson?"

Dog Johnson was trying his best at tightening the bolt that Roman failed to. "No sir. Never lived near water. I like fish, though."

"Oh? Not from Menagerie, are you?"

"Nope. I live right here, in Vale. First generation out."

"Well, isn't that admirable?" Roman used a tape measure to maintain even distance between nails. "Anyway, at the time, it was me and pa against the world. Things were tough for us, you know?"

…

Sykes and Neo continued to sit some ways off. Neo fell asleep long ago, and Sykes was, frankly, in awe. In complete shock at Roman's ability to work forever without break. It's been, what, fourteen hours since Roman began constructing the robot?

Sykes was getting antsy. Is this a joke?

He just wanted to wait until Roman fell asleep, so he could instantly complete the robot and get this thing over with. Just like how he built a cabin in a night, or the sofa, or whatever. Was that too much to ask?

Syked crossed his arms and frowned deeply. Roman doesn't want his help? Fine. He won't get it.

Feeling good about the battle he just won, Sykes went back to reading.

…

"So, this world-record weighted bass was denied by the record keepers. Must've not wanted to give attention to a couple of dirty, poor looking guys like us. Not in our great, affluent kingdom, right?"

"Ha!"

"So what'd you do with the fish?"

"Me and pa roasted that monster over a fire and ate that thing over a few days. Funnily enough, right before we roasted it, one of the guys from the bureau came up to us and wanted to bribe us for the fish. He must have really wanted the attention."

"What happened?"

"Well, to put it short, he was the first guy I ever robbed. With the money, we could afford real drinks to enjoy. Just some cheap wine." Roman walked over to a table and put down the hammer. "That… was probably the one moment that defined the rest of my life."

…

And, together, these young working-class men and women (and Roman, who seems to revert into one in times of extreme distress) built together and told stories to pass the time.

This particular chapter of the White Fang was an odd one. All of them were born and raised in nearby south Vale, and were poor, overworked, stressed, or all three. They were taught a trade by their parents, and faced the evils of discrimination in the workforce. So, they banded together and joined the White Fang. They never went to rallies, as they did not have the means to do so.

So, while they definitely did not care for humans, they were not at all radical. They were really only anxious kids looking for a way to let it all out.

Or maybe they were just young. Maybe they were lost, like everyone in this part of the city.

Very soon, they would not have to worry anymore.

…

 **-Break-**

"What… what's in here, Markus?"

"Nothing."

"It's… pretty heavy for nothing."

"It's nothing." Jaune was holding the box labeled 'cosplay'. "Just carry it faster, please."

"Where are we going? I've never been around this part of Beacon."

"The music hall. Don't worry, no one's been around the part of Beacon. It's literally abandoned."

"Why?"

"Jaune, why would I know? I just found it one day, and asked Ozpin for a room."

…

"It's right… here." Markus took out his key, and unlocked to door to the hallway. He pulled the door open. "Amazing, isn't it?"

Jaune looked in. It _was_ amazing. The dust was layered on all surfaces, including the ceiling. It was like a winter wonderland, except with dust instead of snow. It all piled up at least to your ankles, and the inch-thick cobwebs gave it an ominous and spidery appearance.

It was actually comical. Jaune couldn't believe his eyes.

"Well, there you go." Markus pointed to a sign that may have once been readable. "That's my room. Just drop it in there."

Notably, Markus stood a good ways away from the hallway.

Jaune covered his mouth and turned around. All the cosplay fell to the ground. "You're… you're joking! Walking in there is a death sentence! I'll shred my lungs just breathing that stuff!"

"You have aura, don't you? Quit being such a baby. Grimm are much more dangerous than a little dust." Markus covered his nose and mouth, despite being over twenty feet away from any dust. "Also, I'm just going to forget that you dropped that box."

Aura does not protect the user from injuries of the internal kind very well. Asbestos is a very dangerous thing on Remnant, though no one would find out any time soon.

"Markus… I really don't think I'll survive going in there."

Markus frowned. Again, he was disappointed. "Okay, fine. Then what grand ideas do you have, supreme leader?"

Jaune thought. "Do we… really need to go in there?"

"Yes. Your life is on the line."

"Um… oh." Jaune reached down and slid the box over against the wall, near the hallway entrance. "Well, how about we just leave the boxes here for the time being, then later we can come back with more people. How's that sound?"

"Is that your final answer?"

"...Yes?"

"Then we'll go with that." Markus spun around and began walking away. "There's a lot more boxes to grab, so that's not a bad idea."

Jaune's life was safe, for the time being. He caught up to Markus.

…

…

…

Markus, alone, walked back down an empty hallway. The sun was setting, and its orange light majestically lit up the entire length of the room. Stretched and orange-shaded images of the windows covered the floor, each separated by a dividing pillar.

It was a very cool scene. Markus enjoyed nothing more than walking down it with his hands in his pockets, in perfect silence.

In other news, all his merchandise and other novelties were moved to the entrance of the music hall, thanks to Jaune. _Enormously_ thanks to Jaune. Of the 60 boxes, Markus physically moved zero. Without Jaune, he would have literally done no work.

So, he's thankful.

After Jaune finished with the last box, he pulled out his scroll and said something along the lines of, "Sorry, Markus, but everyone's done with their class now. I'm going to meet them in the cafeteria."

To which Markus replied: "Ok."

Jaune then said: "It was cool hanging out with you, Markus. See you later." He would walk away afterwards, leaving Markus alone.

Markus would speak towards Jaune's back a moment later and say, "Thanks, Jaune."

It was too quiet and too late. Jaune did not hear.

That was ten minutes ago. Five minutes ago, Markus realized how exhausted he was. It must have been all the talking he did today, he thought. He decided that his next course of action was to find somewhere to sleep. Either the floor in the dorm or the medical room would work.

That was a quick summary of why Markus was walking down this hallway.

…

Markus yawned. He leaned on the thick stucco windowsill and stared at the horizon.

Sleeping could wait. Now was the time to look cool. And who sleeps before the sun goes down, anyway?

Naturally, Markus had a brilliant plan. See, his tendency to stare at the sky for extended periods of time was not for no reason, of course. The plan worked something like this:

First, Markus would position himself in an open area, staring at a celestial object in the sky in a introspective mood.

Second, another individual, especially, say, _a girl,_ would stumble upon him and become enamored by his mysterious charm.

That's the plan. It's never worked.

But Markus is nothing if not stubborn. He continued to stare away somewhere, at least until the sun went down.

…

Unsurprisingly, the sun did disappear into the horizon. No one found him. No one fell for his plans.

Markus spun around and walked away.

He's used to it.

 **-Break-**

Over twenty-four hours passed, and the clock struck seven at night. Yesterday, Markus was able to find a nice place to sleep on the hard flooring in team JNPR's dorm room. No one was there when he arrived and no one was there when he woke up. It was a little bit concerning to him that no one bothered to wake him up for class, but he would have gone back to sleep anyway. And that's exactly what he did.

Only a half-hour ago did Markus wake up for real. Now, he was completely energized and in a great mood, ready to conquer any of life's problems. He took a walk, ate some food, and even climbed a tree. He fell out of the tree and hurt his back, but it did not diminish his attitude.

At this specific moment at time, Markus was sitting on a bench in a courtyard. As a self-proclaimed courtyard connoisseur, he had the goal of checking out every single courtyard on Beacon's premises. This one was new to him and very out in the open. In fact, some random dude was sitting right beside him. Markus didn't like it already.

This courtyard was not technically on Beacon's land. It was much closer to Ozpin's office, and the plaza around the CCT tower was directly in front of him. It would have only taken a casual walk for a minute or two to reach the entrance to the tower.

…

The guy sitting to Markus's right was really getting on his nerves. A few minutes ago, he had asked Markus, very politely, to leave. Apparently, his 'girlfriend' would be coming soon, and it would lead to an awkward situation if he was found sitting with another man.

Markus said, "Uhuh," and was, in all honesty, about to leave. That was, until the other dude brought it up again, no less than a minute later.

Was he deaf? Markus already acknowledged his request, and was even in the middle of standing up. Being told to do something that he was already doing pisses him off like nothing else.

So, in defiance, Markus crossed his arms and sat right back down again. Twenty minutes (and twenty identical requests) later, Markus slapped his knees and over-exaggeratedly stood up.

"-so, I'd really appreciate it if you… huh?"

Markus turned and pointed angrily right at the boy. "You got stood up, you ugly little boy! Don't talk to me." After saying this piece, Markus turned and walked away.

The ugly little boy was in some form of shock. "T-that's… impossible! She loves me!" He said.

Markus was not listening.

"Hey! Get back here! She's real! I swear!"

…

Markus approached a familiar figure from behind.

He did not stand up for no reason. Truthfully, he was fully prepared to sit on that bench and defy that boy until the end of time, but he had noticed what had appeared to be _the_ Neptune Vasilias wandering around the plaza. His curiosity quickly overtook his pettiness, and so he left.

Markus clapped his hand on Neptune's shoulder in a very rough manner. "Hey, Neptune! What are you doing out at this hour?"

Neptune yelped before quickly spinning around. He had to stare at Markus for a moment before taking a breath and calming down. "Oh… it's just you, Markus." He panted some more. "You scared me. How are you so quiet?"

Markus pointed down, at his boots. "Noise canceling. Completely soundproof."

"Really?"

"Well, they must be. Learn something new every day." Markus touched Neptune's shoulder and beckoned for him to walk. "Don't change the subject. What are you doing? Something illegal? Can I come too?"

Markus' tone changed considerably throughout each of his questions. This did not escape Neptune's attention. "Are you… bored, or something?"

"Bored?" Markus tilted his head. A moment later, his answer came. "Yeah… I guess I am. Really, really bored."

Neptune stared at Markus. He guessed that Markus was trustworthy. "Okay, well, here's what's up." He looked around, as if to check for any interlopers. "Roman Torchwick, you know him?"

"Him? Yeah."

"Well, apparently, he might be working with the White Fang." Once more, Neptune checked around. "So, I've been ordered to go into town and find clues. Just to confirm, because I'm pretty sure it's true."

At this moment, Markus stopped walking. With a strange expression on, he looked around. "Alone…?"

"What?"

Markus scratched his cheek. The moment was over, and he walked back to Neptune. "Nothing. I'm going with you. Where were you even planning on going?"

Neptune looked at Markus for a second too long. "Umm… well, I was planning on crossing that bridge when I get to it."

"That's a horrible idea."

"..."

"Do you even know how to drive? Vale's a big city, you know."

Now it was Neptune's turn to awkwardly scratch his cheek. "Well… no. In Mistral, you really don't need a car. So I never learned."

"Huh. That's a really good excuse." Markus opened the door to a bullhead. It would be the last bullhead for the day, and traveling back to Beacon via bullhead would be impossible until morning.

Markus did not know this. He stepped in, and Neptune followed behind.

…

…

…

"This is your car?" Neptune ran his hand along the black luxury car. It was a very expensive model. He's never seen one up close before.

Markus also ran his hand along it. "Yep."

They were in a small parking garage that was near where the bullhead landed. Students and teachers would park here for extended periods while they flew to Beacon. This particular car reminded Markus of those hundred-grand plus luxury vehicles back home. The licence plate on the back said: "OPZIN." He wasn't sure who this OPZIN character was, but he could certainly make an educated guess.

Maybe it was out of spite, or maybe from a simple rebellious spirit, but Markus chose to take this car. He fished out the master key from a pocket and stuck it in the driver's side door.

A short prayer and a turn later, the door unlocked and opened. Neptune opened the door on his side, too. Sitting down, Markus was suddenly struck by all the extra features. Leather seating, cup holders, touch screens? Was that a butt-warmer? He was already in love.

And the scent. That new car smell. No one must have been in here for a long time. Is that where that smell comes from? Markus didn't know. Neptune wasn't sure, either.

…

"This is a really nice car." Neptune looked over. "It's actually yours? Not like, your dad's, or something?"

"Yes." Markus was rubbing the steering wheel. It's been… what? A whole year since he's been behind the wheel? And how long has it been since he's left Beacon? The wide world was open for him, wasn't it? This was exactly what he was waiting for, right? "All… mine. Mine."

Neptune sent an odd glance to his driver. Said driver quickly and discreetly wiped the sweat on his brow and started the vehicle. He turned on the butt-warmer before backing out.

Neptune asked many times where they were going, but Markus was too busy going through a second rebirth of the soul to hear.

 **-Break-**

Ozpin was alone in his office, but only in spirit. He had many papers to keep him company, and every single one required a signature. Just your average Friday night. Sometimes he wished he had a stamp.

An application was laid in front of him. The applicant had no records, no test scores, and no references.

Mister Thaddeus Tea? What are you, a hero?

Rejected. Next.

Miss May Claro? Very cute. Awful year eight world literature scores, however.

Rejected. Next.

And so on and so forth. Ozpin's Friday afternoons were all spent like this. Beacon accepts students year-round, and an initiation occurs three times a year, once every semester. The underlying principle is that warriors cannot be locked into a strict schedule like that at traditional schools. Maybe they had to train with their parents, or a special tutor. It would be an awful waste to make someone like that wait a whole year if they missed the deadline. All advanced combat schools share this sentiment.

By all means, Ozpin would have loved to let Mr. Tea and Miss Claro into Beacon. Miss Claro appears to be a brilliant strategist, and Mr. Tea looks to have the spirit of a great warrior. Put them together, and Ozpin was sure they could tear through anything that comes their way.

And that was exactly the issue. They were _too_ strong.

To put it simply, Ozpin already had his heroes. Any more, and he would just be complicating things. A lot of work was put into the situation he had today, why would he ruin it now? It was much too late to bring in someone he was unsure of.

Wrong place, wrong time.

An alert appeared on his computer screen, with a small ring. He tapped on it, and a camera feed was opened up. It was at one of Beacon's small offices in the middle of the city. More specifically, its parking garage.

And then there was Markus. He can't say that he's ever heard of a Quinn family in all his years. And that other man. Blue, he called himself. A fake name, if he's ever heard one.

He's searched through Atlas's records. 221st class, he said.

He found him, or someone that looked exactly like him. The name, however, was blacked out. Not especially strange within the Atlesian army. Who knows what they're doing in there. So, he did some more digging.

All he found was more redacted boxes. Now, this was odd. Atlas does _not_ delete information. There must have been a copy somewhere, but he couldn't find it, no matter how hard he looked.

It was almost as if someone was completely erased from history, then replaced with Blue. It was an absurd idea, but all evidence so far pointed to it.

Whatever the case, this Blue is a very strange figure. Ozpin wasn't sure what to think of him.

But, that's all unrelated. The real issue here was that his car was just stolen. Through his 17-layer locking mechanism, made of ultrasteel and guaranteed to never be broken, it was stolen. With fingerprint and eye scanners, it was stolen.

He wouldn't even have known, either. The alarm he got was a motion trigger, not a burglary alarm.

Ozpin was impressed, but his thoughts were confirmed. He wasn't sure what to do with Markus. He wanted to talk with him.

Leaving his worries behind, he got back to rejecting applicants.

…

"Please don't damage my car, Mr. Quinn."

* * *

 **If you're wondering, this story may have something resembling romance at some point far in the future. The author spoke it over with the beta at 2 in the morning of this very same day. Maybe it'll be good.**


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